The world gymnastics governing body, FIG, is pondering an age
limit of 16 for gymnasts competing in international matches after
the Beijing Olympic Games.
Bruno Grandi, the president of FIG, unveiled the idea of
adopting new age regulations on Monday on the sidelines of the
recently completed "Good Luck Beijing" Gymnastics International
Invitational.
"Sports like gymnastics should not be there for kids," said
Grandi. "Gymnasts should only be allowed to compete on the
international stage when they are mature physically and
mentally."
"It's likely there will be an age limit of no less than 16 for
gymnasts to attend international competitions after 2008," added
the Italian.
If the new age limit is applied, gymnasts younger than 16
wouldn't be allowed to compete in international events such as the
Olympics, world championships and World Cup series.
US gymnast Shawn Johnson, the triple world champion at the 2007
Stuttgart Worlds, and China's Jiang Yuyuan, the women's team silver
medalist, were both 15 when they competed in Stuttgart.
Jiang was also the all-around winner at the Good Luck Olympic
test event.
Grandi is striving for fundamental reforms of FIG. He is a
strong supporter of the new rules on scoring, implemented after the
Athens Games. Under the new scoring rules, the "perfect 10" points
ceiling is removed, encouraging routine difficulties to
continuously progress.
"The essence of sports is to face the utmost challenge, and it's
the same in gymnastics," said Grandi.
"Gymnastics should not be framed by a set mark. The new scoring
code is a way of encouraging athletes to challenge their courage
and high points.
"The increase of routine difficulty is an inevitable trend. This
trend won't change after the Beijing Olympics, but gymnastics is
not acrobatics and keeps the traits of art and beauty in additional
to competition," commented Grandi.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2007)