Flying High

Chinese Gymnasts

This article from Time Magazine is a few years old, but quite interesting on the use of science to determine a gymnasts age.  It seems to be coming a larger and larger debate as time goes on as to just how old some of the olympic gymnasts are and if there should be an age restriction.  Currently The International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) has set age restrictions at 16.  Many of the Chinese gymnasts in particular were in question of the age restrictions, looking at the picture I can see why they do appear very young.

While sports science is becoming more advanced and can test for illegal substances, test for illnesses and even determine your gender, there is no way to determine an exact age. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been under a lot of pressure to address  "age doping". This lack in scientific ability seems to be a rising issue and olympic and other elite gymnasts appear to be getting younger and younger and ignoring the age restrictions.

There are some methods available to scientifically determine ages, however these tests are only accurate with a year or two.  One interesting method was the use of dental records.  Through the examination of the records it can be determined how long a person has been living since how worn the teeth are directly relates to age.  However this also has a certainty of two years. This amount of uncertainty is too large when the ages in question are only about 14-16 years old.   The article also said that "Most of these are also based on forensic approaches and have not been used to screen for age in living people."

Another approach scientists have began taking is examining is bones. One experimental method is MRI's of wrist bones which show to what extent the bones have fused.  Bones fuse with age, so in theory the older the athlete the more fused the bones would be.  This has one major downfall though, bones don't fuse the same way in females, so this test is only applicable to males.  There are other bones in the body too which can lend some insight to age, however still none that would be able to pinpoint an age as either 14 or 16.  The best way for scientists seems to be a combination of examining bones and dental wear.  The use of these methods is not in use by FIG however, and it is unlikely they will be with the amount of uncertainty involved.

So why the age restrictions?  FIG has set age restrictions in order to what they are calling "protecting" the athletes. Is there scientific evidence showing that allowing 14 year olds to compete in events such as the olympics is harmful?  They allow gymnasts of any age to train rigorously, some even choosing homeschooling so they can focus more on training. One point about this is gymnastics is a sport where high difficulty is greatly rewarded, making training more intense. In theory by keeping the youngsters out of competition it should reduce their risks of injuries.  Keeping them out of competitions at 14 however doesn't stop them from training for them if they have the skills.

This picture is from  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7507461.stm  They had another interesting article  about the age of gymnasts.

There's no scientific reasoning for the age restrictions or even to determine an exact age.  I personally wonder if there should be an age restriction.  These athletes at these levels are going to train just as hard whether they can compete at 14 or not, otherwise they wont have what it takes when they are 16.  However at the same time I wonder without it where the line would be drawn and if there would be parents and coaches pushing 10 year old girls too far and forever destroying their bodies. At the same time though its an interesting paradox because most gymnasts begin as toddlers just playing around in the gym.