It seems like a good first step would be to set the minimum age to compete at world championships or the olympics at 16 or 17 or maybe even 20. Then delaying puberty wouldn't be a thing because everyone will have passed it.
> It seems like a good first step would be to set the minimum age to compete at world championships or the olympics at 16 or 17 or maybe even 20. Then delaying puberty wouldn't be a thing because everyone will have passed it.
Delaying puberty will still be a thing because people that end up competing at the top levels start training intensely long before they are eligible to compete.
Its not like someone wakes up one day and says "I think I'd like to be an Olympic gymnast", trains for a few months, and competes at the Olympics.
There have been multiple accusations of age falsification. If winning simply becomes a matter of faking a passport, several countries would be happy to do so.
Sounds like a great way to get a multi sport IOC ban. Those athletes that win medals will get intense international scrutiny, I suspect consistent faking of records will get found out eventually.
Anyways, just because some participants may cheat doesn’t inherently mean a rule isn’t worth making.
They could disqualify entire countries if that happens. But it would also help to change the events and the scoring so it doesn't encourage underage abuse. Man apparently need to be a lot older to compete. How about mixing the events a bit more so women compete on the same grounds as men? I find it really weird that men's and women's gymnastics are basically completely different sports.
No. This is a question that comes up in the UK in the context of unaccompanied irregular migrants. If they're under 18, local authorities have certain responsibilities towards them, over 18 not.
They do age exams, looking at various physical features, but it's fairly error prone and not that precise.
Delaying puberty will still be a thing because people that end up competing at the top levels start training intensely long before they are eligible to compete.
Its not like someone wakes up one day and says "I think I'd like to be an Olympic gymnast", trains for a few months, and competes at the Olympics.