Ozzy. I am sure I am going to need some help from you on this one.

[Hercules]

Well I thought Nastia Liukin, made the mark.

[Will9]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel


If you're talking about whom I think you're talking about, that was more of an East German style woman...

She was actually from Uzbekistan.

[OzzyKP]

Re: Ozzy. I am sure I am going to need some help from you on this one.

Originally posted by Deity Dude
Why have an age limitation onwomen's gymnastics in the Olympics?

If the argument is that they are too young to compete or it is bad for them, that is a non-starter. If they can win the Gold medal they aren't too young to be competitive.

Second, if forced to wait until 16, does anyone really think that their training schedule or competition schedule would change. The only result is that they would not compete in events with age minimums,instead competing in "junior olympics" or junior championships". In addition, they still would be handpicked at age 3 or 4 and start training non-stop until they were too old to be competitive. So if the worry is to somehow not over train these athletes or rob these athletes of their childhood, that is ridiculous.

Third, in an international sport where individual nations provide the ages of their representatives (and are obviously willing to lie) there is no way of enforcing such a rule.

Fourth, this is a relatively new rule. (14 year old were allowed to compete until 1997) Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she won her first Olympic gold medal in 1976. I'm sure her life wasn't ruined by that experience. I also doubt that her training would have been lessened if she weren't allowed to compete.

Fifth, the rule is not uniform. England has a 14 year old male diver - Tom Daley. Cameroon has a 12 year old female swimmer - Antoinette Joyce Guedia Mouafo. Seems a little strange to me.

Finally the Olympics is supposed to be about the best athletes in the world, coming together and competing on behalf of their country. I know it doesn't always work out that way, but the closer we can stay to the ultimate goal the better.

There is no need for an age restriction. Athletes take risks to compete at that level no matter their age. And, as you point out, they are training like crazy anyhow. I'd say you do more damage to an exceptional 14 year old by holding them back then allowing them to compete and be counted among the best athletes in the world. Fame, endorsements, money, etc, there are many real benefits that come from being an Olympic medalist. Let them compete.

[Tuberski]

So, it would be okay for a14 y.o. to play in the NFL?

ACK!

[-Jrabbit]

At the heart of it, it's a competition to determine the best athlete in all these events. Now that the "amateur" restriction is gone, I see no reason for an age restriction. The bottom line on this argument is that the rule obviously doesn't stop kids from excessive training while still physically immature. Coaches/governments/parents encourage/push/force kids to compete regardless of the rules anyway. If they're the best, so be it.

That being said, if the IOC (or any sports regulatory body) has a rule in place, they should enforce it vigorously.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Tuberski
So, it would be okay for a14 y.o. to play in the NFL?

ACK!

If they could handle it, sure. I think coaches, parents, agents, scouts and all the rest have an interest in making sure their athletes don't die out on the field (if nothing else then to make sure their investment pays off). So if the individual in question can't hack the NFL he isn't going to find a team anyhow. If he can make it, then sure, why not?

Should Lebron not been allowed to join the NBA when he did?

[ColdWizard]

He wouldn't be able to if he came out now. NBA now requires a year after HS graduation, high schoolers are no longer allowed to play.

[OzzyKP]

Yea, I think that is a lame rule. Speaking of which, this is an interesting article I dug up:

High school star willing to play in Europe to prove a point to NBA


Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo led the "one-and-done" parade in last week's NBA draft, which included a record 10 freshmen in the first round.

Brandon Jennings wasn't able to join them, but only because high school seniors weren't eligible.

And if the 6-2 point guard out of Virginia's Oak Hill Academy has his way, he may not enter next year's NBA draft as a freshman, either.

Here's the deal: Jennings wants no part of the collusion between the NBA and NCAA that prohibits the league from drafting kids until they're a year out of high school, and he's willing to take his game out of the country to make his pioneering point.

"It'll be a good thing for the kids," he told The New York Times, "and a bad thing for the college coaches."

Never mind that chances are slim our hero actually goes to Europe and pulls this off. Odds are he'll end up at Arizona, where he'll replace this year's one-and-done phenom, Jerryd Bayless.

But at least he's making a statement about the virulent hypocrisy in basketball, and that's worth creating a flap over.

Besides, he kinda likes the idea of being a pioneer.

"That's Brandon," his coach, Oak Hill's Steve Smith, told me by phone. "He's a funny kid. He's always changing his hairdo or something. He's a free spirit.

"If people tell him it's the wrong thing to do, he doesn't necessarily think he's wrong."

Only the NBA and NCAA are wrong on this point. College isn't for everyone, especially if you can make seven figures without it.

Consider this: If Jennings were the fourth-best pitcher in the country instead of the fourth-ranked basketball player, no one could make him go to college for a year. He'd be a top-10 pick. His new team would give him a big bonus, then plant him so deep in its farm system he wouldn't come up for years.

More basketball players are ready to make the jump from high school to the highest level every year than in the 43-year history of baseball's draft.

If a baseball player decides not to sign after high school, he must wait until after his junior year to turn pro once he enrolls at a four-year school.

College basketball, on the other hand, is more than happy to carry off the NBA's little charade. Once on campus, all a one-and-done prospect has to do is pass a couple of classes in the fall. Come spring, good luck finding him for roll call.

Smith calls the idea of keeping a kid out of the draft just to fulfill the above scenario "a joke."

"It needs to be two or three years, or zero," Smith said of the wait. "One is a fiasco."

If he carries through with his threat to challenge the powers-that-be, Jennings won't have it easy. NBA scouts say he'll have to find the right fit in Europe or Israel. Competition will be tougher. At 170 pounds, he'll have to bulk up. But he wouldn't get homesick. His mother and brother would move with him.

If Jennings goes ahead and enrolls at Arizona, he'll have to make other adjustments. Some kids handle it better than others. Kevin Durant did quite nicely in his brief stay at Texas.

But Brandon Jennings is no Kevin Durant.

"To be totally honest, Brandon doesn't like school all that much," Smith said. "He's kinda tired of school. He's a gym rat.

"He likes to play basketball, and he wants to get paid to do it."

Of course, he could still do that in college. But that's a lesson in hypocrisy for another day.