Just for grins...how old will your dd be in an Olympic year?

[MdGymMom01]

With all this talk about fast-tracking to elite, it got me thinking about the Olympics. Not for my dd, but just in general. So how old will your dd be in any eligible olympic year if the minimum age to compete is 16? I'll start:

2016 Summer Games - dd will be 17 (will turn 17 in Jan 2017)

Very age appropriate, but with her on-going fear issues, not likely that she will make it. Hey, I'm just being realistic here .

 

[bogwoppit]

BittyBB will be 17 like your DD, so the perfect age for the O's. I better call Marta and up Bitty's hours to 10 per week, oh and cancel the 3 month gym vacation she is about to take!

BiggerBB wiil be too young for the 2012's at 15, but by 2016 she will be 19, practically dead by Elite terms.

Though do not discount me, Oksana Chusovitina of Germany competes very well and she is over 30! Bwahahaha!

 

[MdGymMom01]

BittyBB will be 17 like your DD, so the perfect age for the O's. I better call Marta and up Bitty's hours to 10 per week, oh and cancel the 3 month gym vacation she is about to take!

BiggerBB wiil be too young for the 2012's at 15, but by 2016 she will be 19, practically dead by Elite terms.

Though do not discount me, Oksana Chusovitina of Germany competes very well and she is over 30! Bwahahaha!

LOL!!! Too funny! But, yes Oksana competed the vault at the last olympics when she was in her 30's and placed 3rd!!!!!!

You know whats funny Bog--the MDL doesn't have an upper limit to compete (it is 14 and up) so theoretically I could compete!! Yeah, right--no freaking way!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MamaofEnS]

My DD was born during the Olympics of '96. It was right after the Magnificent 7 won the team gold. Who knew that because of that event, she would become a gymnast? She will be turning 20 in 2016.

MamaofEnS

 

[Shelovesthebars]

Just curious, how old does a gymnast have to be? Do they have to turn 16 in the olympic year to be eligible? I have no idea how that works.

 

[starmaker]

DD olympic year would be 2020 and she would 17 years old. A good age for olympics I suppose.

 

[MdGymMom01]

Just curious, how old does a gymnast have to be? Do they have to turn 16 in the olympic year to be eligible? I have no idea how that works.

Well, as the rule stands now, they have to turn 16 in the Olympic year as a minimum age, meaning that they can not be younger than 16. So for the kids that are 15 in an Olympic year, they have to wait four more years (till they are 19) until they are eligible again.

 

[gymnut1]

My dd is a millenium baby so she turns 16 in 2016. Even better her birthday is at the end of the year so she would compete at 15. That is supposed to be ideal. Bless her it is not going to happen but she can dream right?

 

[mariposa]

Both my girls would be "too old". Big one will be 18 in 2020 and little one will be 18 in 2024. LOL. Maybe I should switch them to ice skating quick so they can go to the Winter Olympics as 16 year olds in 2018 and 2022. Though I guess they would be old for that, right? Can't kids be younger for ice skating? Guess they just weren't meant to go to the Olympics.

 

[Billy]

My DD will be 14 in 2016 (she'll turn 15 in October) and 18 in 2020.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

My dd's olympics would be 2020, and she would be 17...ds's would be 2020 as a 19 yo. (isn't a little older preferable for boys...?)

I think in ice skating that lots of the olympians are older...19's and into early 20's. There are some 16 and 17 yr olds but I don't think that's the norm.

There's a lady at dd's gym who competed in figure skating...I should ask her...

 

[Aussie_coach]

This will be a fun thread for your DD's to go back and read when that year arrives.

Don't discount your DD if they won't get to their first olympics by 18 or 19. Sometimes its not idea to be just turned or about to turn 16. An 18 or 19 year old would have had two more years of Senior competitive experiences and probably have had a few good international meets under their belt. While a just turned 16 year old may have had almost no previous senior international experience.

Female olympic gymnasts are getting older. I remember watching the 2000 Olympics and the oldest two gymnasts in the whole competition were 20 turning 21. 4 years later at the 2004 Olympics, the same gymnasts were competing again at 24 turning 25. Many other had stayed on so many were in their early 20's. The USA had Mohini Bardwarj who was in the late 20's, and there was another athlete in her late 20's, and Oksana who was approaching 30 at the time.

I think times are changing and there is more money around, so kids are able to stay in the sport longer. Often they would be forced to retire and get a full time job, but now there are more chances to make money from the sport, and generally more support money around for sport. Also training practices and body knowledge has improved so athletes are more likely to stay uninjured longer than they used to in the 90's.

Also women's gymnastics is getting harder. It was once a sport requiring great flexibility, which of course is better when you are younger. But now the emphasis is more on strength as the women are generally doing all the skills that only men used to do. A woman's strength does not peak in her teens. It should continue to grow in her 20's, so older gymnasts will have a greater advantage as the sport moves on.

 

[Ingwe]

Funny thread.

My DD's Olympic year would be 2016 and she will be 17


(I have a sneaky suspicion that she won't be there )

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd will be turning 16 in the 2012 Olympic Year so technically she could compete age-wise. Maybe I should get her on the Olympic track...now! Funny thing is if I tried, she'd look at me and say no way, she has no desire to do Elite (definitely her choice and fine by me and my wallet!)

What she does desire though is doing gymnastics in college, which to me is a perfect fit and absolutely acceptable to me. Fingers crossed that she does achieve her awesome goal!!!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

You might be interested to know that many nations (including USA) have been pushing to lower the minimum age to 15. The FIG won't allow this due to safety/well being of the gymnasts.
Yet when it comes to re-instating a gymnasts ability to warm up on the podium prior to competing, suddenly her safety comes second to them trying speed things up for the media

 

[cher062]

With all this talk about fast-tracking to elite, it got me thinking about the Olympics. Not for my dd, but just in general. So how old will your dd be in any eligible olympic year if the minimum age to compete is 16? I'll start:

2016 Summer Games - dd will be 17 (will turn 17 in Jan 2017)

Very age appropriate, but with her on-going fear issues, not likely that she will make it. Hey, I'm just being realistic here .

2012 - 15 yo
2016 - 19 yo
2020 - 23 yo (an old lady for gymnasics)

 

[Blazing15]

My Daughter would be 17 for the 2020 Olympics. She will tell you that's what she wants to do. I know it's a long shot but hey if she wants to try that is up to her.

 

[gymjourneymom]

My DD will be 16yrs old for the 2012 Olympics!!! I'd better start getting her passport together. I really think she has a shot at this!!!! Seriously...she has all the skills they show on Make It or Break It & those girls are elites training for the Olympics, right???

 

[MdGymMom01]

My DD will be 16yrs old for the 2012 Olympics!!! I'd better start getting her passport together. I really think she has a shot at this!!!! Seriously...she has all the skills they show on Make It or Break It & those girls are elites training for the Olympics, right???

And you know 20 is not really too old for the 2016 Olympics!!!! I would bet shecould take a few years off to do track and high school stuff and then get back into gym when she is 18. You never know what gymnastics will be like in 2016!!!

 

[gymjourneymom]

And you know 20 is not really too old for the 2016 Olympics!!!! I would bet shecould take a few years off to do track and high school stuff and then get back into gym when she is 18. You never know what gymnastics will be like in 2016!!!

Mdgymmom, I thought you would surely get my humor. You do know I was trying to make a joke about MIOBI & the "elite" skills they show,LOL.