Ok so you want to tell me that most if not all world class women gymnasts are better at 11 than at 16 and are better at 16 than at 20.
I know you won’t say that because there are plenty of counter examples.
I will say that some are better younger and some are better when they get older.
And you know that is true.
And I don’t understand this age limit anyway. US swimmer Donna de Varonna was 13 when she made the US olympic team, 14 year old Michelle Kwan was going to skate until Tonya Harding got reinstated, and of course Nadia performed for Karoli at age 14.
“Ok so you want to tell me that most if not all world class women gymnasts are better at 11 than at 16 and are better at 16 than at 20.”
As everyone matures at different ages I cannot pinpoint the exact year of puberty for everyone, so I have to say this is not what I’m trying to tell you.
I will tell you that when you are specifically talking about bars - the younger you are the easier it is.
Nastia is amazing because she has managed to retain her skill level on bars through the years.
But if you were to ask her when was bars the easiest for her? My bet is it was much easier for her prior to puberty.
In general - it is an advantage to compete on bars prior to puberty.
Being little can be a bit of an advantage on beam (smaller feet) - but not as much as bars.
Most girls tend to get better at vault as they get older (up until their joints start to fall apart).
So - when you have a format where girls can specialize in events (not having to compete on all 4) the Chinese strategy was quite brilliant...they pulled ahead by a full point on bars with their strategy.
Too bad they didn’t play within the rules of the game.
“And I don’t understand this age limit anyway. US swimmer Donna de Varonna was 13 when she made the US olympic team, 14 year old Michelle Kwan was going to skate until Tonya Harding got reinstated, and of course Nadia performed for Karoli at age 14”
well - the biggest problem is that only the honest countries will abide by the rules.
If we were to use the same strategy we would have brought a different team - certainly a different bars lineup.