I’ve always been a huge fan of the summer Olympics. I could never really get into the winter Olympics because of the excessive amount of figure skating but that’s besides the point. Anyway this year I was watching the women’s gymnastics competition this year and there was alot of talk about the actual ages of the Chinese team. The official rule on age limit to compete in the Olympics as of now is the athlete competing must turn 16 in the year that the Olympics are taking place. So even if the competitor was 15 when it took place if they turned 16 bythe end of the year it’s still legal. What I want to know is if this rule should really be enforced. Personally I think the rule is kind of stupid. The Olympics aresupposed to be a competition between the best athletes in the entire world. Whether or not the athlete is 12, 16, or 40 shouldn’t matter at all. If a 12 year old kid has the ability to compete on a international level and take home the gold why should anyone deny them that opportunity. I am bitter that the US lost to a team that could have illegal members on the team but I still think the rule shouldn’t exist.
--CG
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The main purpose of the age rule was supposed to be for protecting kids who are worked too hard to be athletes. It's a well known fact that Olympic level gymnists don't have menstrual cycles, for instance, and some people in the business were really worried that it would push little kids too hard and that it was too much pressure to put on a kid. They were also worried that it might permanently deform their bodies if they were overworked as little kids, since they are still growing and developing. That was the original intention of the rule, anyway.
And it also pissed me off that nobody really pushed to find out of China broke the rules for women's gymnastics.
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