本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Current regulations
Currently, as per the 1997 regulation, gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age, or turning 16 within the calendar year, to compete in senior-level events. For the current Olympic cycle, in order to compete in the 2008 Olympics, a gymnast must have a birth date before January 1, 1993. There is no maximum age restriction, and some gymnasts compete well into their 20s. The oldest female gymnast currently competing in senior international events is Germany's Oksana Chusovitina[9], who was born in 1975, and was 33 years, 1 month old at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was 17 years, 1 month old at her first Olympics, the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Legal exceptions
The one exception to this rule applies to the year before the Olympics, when gymnasts who are one year below the required age, but will be the required age in the Olympic year, may compete as seniors at the World Championships and other FIG meets. For instance, gymnasts born in 1977 were allowed to compete at senior events in 1991, when they were 14 or turning 14 within the calendar year. Within the current cycle, gymnasts born in 1992 were permitted to compete as seniors in 2007. This is permitted to allow nations to qualify to the Olympics with their best teams, and to give emerging gymnasts some experience in major competition before the Olympics. However, the FIG is considering eliminating this exception.
In addition, the age requirement technically only applies to meets which are sanctioned and regulated directly by the FIG: the Olympics, the World Championships and the World Cup circuit. Many other meets, such as the European Championships, have separate divisions for juniors. Additionally, some competitions, such as the Pam Am Games, the Pacific Rim Championships and the All-Africa Games, have rules that permit seniors and juniors to compete together.
[edit] Response from coaches and federations
The age limit is arguably one of the most contentious rules in gymnastics, and is frequently debated by coaches, gymnasts and members of the media. While some members of the sport, such as former USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi, have expressed support for the age limit of 16, others, such as coach Bela Karolyi, have heavily criticized it.
Supporters of the age restrictions have pointed out that it has encouraged older gymnasts to remain in the sport. The average age of an international gymnast was 18.10 years in 2005. In contrast, in 1994, before the new age requirements, it was 16.49, and in 1989, gymnasts who had reached the age of 17 were already often considered to be of retirement age.
Opponents of the rule have countered that by barring younger gymnasts from top level meets, they are denying them valuable competitive experience.[11] They have also argued that junior gymnasts perform and are scored under the same Code of Points as the seniors, perform the same skills, and are thus not avoiding the physical impact of training and performing high-level skills. It is also argued that the current Code of Points, with its increased requirements for difficult skills, is more suited to younger and lighter athletes, and puts older athletes at greater risk of injury.
The FIG verifies ages with documents provided to them by the gymnasts' home countries and federations, namely passports and national identification cards. This verification process has been also criticized by some in the gymnastics community, with the argument that countries can manufacture and submit falsified documents for underage athletes.[15][14] In several cases, gymnasts involved in age falsification have verified that they did in fact compete under forged passports provided to them by their federations
Age falsification
Reports of age falsification among top-level international gymnasts first began to surface in the 1980s, after the age limit was raised from 14 to 15. This has frequently taken the form of inconsistently reported birthdates; at other times, speculation has been raised due to the young appearance of the gymnasts.
Gymnasts who have had their ages falsified, and have spoken about their experiences, have indicated that they were not given a choice in the matter.[16] In a 2002 interview, Romanian gymnast Daniela Silivaş, whose age was advanced two years in the 1980s, noted: "One of the officials of the Federation told me 'Look at the passport, from today you're not 13 years old anymore but 15.' Nobody asked me if I agreed to this, I was just a child. They needed gold medals and everybody who was involved in gymnastics knew about these practices."
While age falsification has been denied among many gymnastics officials, in recent years some have publicly admitted that the practice has occurred. In reference to the falsifications of the early 1990s and 1980s, the head of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, Nicolae Vieru, was quoted in 2002: "Changing the ages was a worldwide practice...we copied this from others."[8] The FIG has publicly stated that they view age falsification as an unacceptable practice. However, in only one case, that of Kim Gwang Suk, has the FIG elected to take any action against a gymnastics federation for age falsification.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
Currently, as per the 1997 regulation, gymnasts must be at least 16 years of age, or turning 16 within the calendar year, to compete in senior-level events. For the current Olympic cycle, in order to compete in the 2008 Olympics, a gymnast must have a birth date before January 1, 1993. There is no maximum age restriction, and some gymnasts compete well into their 20s. The oldest female gymnast currently competing in senior international events is Germany's Oksana Chusovitina[9], who was born in 1975, and was 33 years, 1 month old at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was 17 years, 1 month old at her first Olympics, the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Legal exceptions
The one exception to this rule applies to the year before the Olympics, when gymnasts who are one year below the required age, but will be the required age in the Olympic year, may compete as seniors at the World Championships and other FIG meets. For instance, gymnasts born in 1977 were allowed to compete at senior events in 1991, when they were 14 or turning 14 within the calendar year. Within the current cycle, gymnasts born in 1992 were permitted to compete as seniors in 2007. This is permitted to allow nations to qualify to the Olympics with their best teams, and to give emerging gymnasts some experience in major competition before the Olympics. However, the FIG is considering eliminating this exception.
In addition, the age requirement technically only applies to meets which are sanctioned and regulated directly by the FIG: the Olympics, the World Championships and the World Cup circuit. Many other meets, such as the European Championships, have separate divisions for juniors. Additionally, some competitions, such as the Pam Am Games, the Pacific Rim Championships and the All-Africa Games, have rules that permit seniors and juniors to compete together.
[edit] Response from coaches and federations
The age limit is arguably one of the most contentious rules in gymnastics, and is frequently debated by coaches, gymnasts and members of the media. While some members of the sport, such as former USA Gymnastics president Bob Colarossi, have expressed support for the age limit of 16, others, such as coach Bela Karolyi, have heavily criticized it.
Supporters of the age restrictions have pointed out that it has encouraged older gymnasts to remain in the sport. The average age of an international gymnast was 18.10 years in 2005. In contrast, in 1994, before the new age requirements, it was 16.49, and in 1989, gymnasts who had reached the age of 17 were already often considered to be of retirement age.
Opponents of the rule have countered that by barring younger gymnasts from top level meets, they are denying them valuable competitive experience.[11] They have also argued that junior gymnasts perform and are scored under the same Code of Points as the seniors, perform the same skills, and are thus not avoiding the physical impact of training and performing high-level skills. It is also argued that the current Code of Points, with its increased requirements for difficult skills, is more suited to younger and lighter athletes, and puts older athletes at greater risk of injury.
The FIG verifies ages with documents provided to them by the gymnasts' home countries and federations, namely passports and national identification cards. This verification process has been also criticized by some in the gymnastics community, with the argument that countries can manufacture and submit falsified documents for underage athletes.[15][14] In several cases, gymnasts involved in age falsification have verified that they did in fact compete under forged passports provided to them by their federations
Age falsification
Reports of age falsification among top-level international gymnasts first began to surface in the 1980s, after the age limit was raised from 14 to 15. This has frequently taken the form of inconsistently reported birthdates; at other times, speculation has been raised due to the young appearance of the gymnasts.
Gymnasts who have had their ages falsified, and have spoken about their experiences, have indicated that they were not given a choice in the matter.[16] In a 2002 interview, Romanian gymnast Daniela Silivaş, whose age was advanced two years in the 1980s, noted: "One of the officials of the Federation told me 'Look at the passport, from today you're not 13 years old anymore but 15.' Nobody asked me if I agreed to this, I was just a child. They needed gold medals and everybody who was involved in gymnastics knew about these practices."
While age falsification has been denied among many gymnastics officials, in recent years some have publicly admitted that the practice has occurred. In reference to the falsifications of the early 1990s and 1980s, the head of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, Nicolae Vieru, was quoted in 2002: "Changing the ages was a worldwide practice...we copied this from others."[8] The FIG has publicly stated that they view age falsification as an unacceptable practice. However, in only one case, that of Kim Gwang Suk, has the FIG elected to take any action against a gymnastics federation for age falsification.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net