First off, I’d like to say my title is very contradicting because I myself have been a gymnast for many years and at 5’5, under no circumstances would I consider myself short. However growing up as a gymnast, I tended to notice that many of the more successful gymnasts are short. In my gym, the older and higher level gymnasts tended to be much shorter than I was. When I would watch competitions on TV, I also seemed to pick up on the professionals apparent miniature size. My question was this: would I ever be a good gymnast if I wasn’t short? Of course there are many gymnasts who are my size or taller, but I wondered if skills would actually be easier for me if I was shorter.
What I learned was this: Gymnastics stunts growth. The reason older and more experienced girls at my gym were often short was because their long history of gymnastics actually MADE them that way. Having started gymnastics in a later part of my life, I did not have to undergo this and therefore I have had less experience. It’ actually reverse causation that is the answer here, proving my hypothesis (and frankly very negative thinking) completely wrong. It IS possible to be tall and an excellent gymnast, such as the famous Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina, and our very own Dominique Dawes.
So how does gymnastics stunt growth when other sports don’t?
-Gymnasts (especially olympic) start training at a VERY young age and do so just as intensively as athletes almost twice their age. This is why during the 2008 Bejing olympics, China was accused of using athletes as young as 12 and 14.
-It delays puberty. When starting highly intensive training at such a young age, your body fat levels drop dangerously low signaling to your brain that you’re not yet ready for puberty.
-Researchers in this article observed 35 people in extensive studies and coming to a conclusion that the gymnasts’ growth is indeed affected by the sport.
Does this mean you should avoid gymnastics?
-Although there are apparent dangers, the stunted growth doesn’t have too many long term effects. However, the delay in puberty is harmful, so if your child or someone young wants to do gymnastics and aren’t planning on competing in the Olympics, make sure they start after puberty!
If you’re interested in gymnastics at all or just want to listen to an attractive successful 21 year old olympic gold medalist talk… Shawn Johnson is coming to Penn State and tickets are free!
Works Cited
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20040825/why-many-elite-gymnasts-are-short
http://heyanappleaday.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/why-female-olympic-gymnasts-look-like-children/
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1265998-power-ranking-the-25-best-womens-gymnasts-in-olympic-history/page/4
http://espn.go.com/sexiestathletes/dominique_dawes.html