Many olympic athletes are college age — but not womens gymnastics. Are college gymnasts beyond their peak performance?
The physical attributes necessary for competitive success in female gymnastics have significantly changed over the past thirty years. The progressive increase in the difficulty of skills since the 1950’s and 60’s has increased the physical demands and the acrobatic nature of the sport. Technical skill, muscular strength, explosive power relative to body weight, flexibility and artistic impression are all essential characteristics required for world class performance. I believe that there are four main reasons that world class women gymnastics is populated by very young girls; power to weight ratio, number of years required to master the skills, heavy time demands of training and willingness to relocate near or live in elite training camps operated by elite coaches. Today’s elite female gymnasts must be small, lean (low percent body fat), and well-muscled which results in a high power-to-weight ratio. Generally, female gymnasts reach their peak power-to-weight ratio prior to puberty and
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