All Olympic and world competitions for all sports should have no minimum age requirements/restrictions - the best should be able to compete. Like Bela Karolyi says, this will take away the controversy of nations cheating and sending athletes younger who do not meet the minimum age requirements - like in gymnastics the controversy of half of China's team beaing underage. Open it up! There won't be this difference among different sports of some having age requirements and some not having any age requirements - like in diving, there is 14 year old diver Tom Daley competing for Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The nations, the coaches, the athletes, and the parents of minors, will decide who is ready to compete...it seems like the times of the state and coaches being able to overpower the athletes are coming to a close....Romanian's gymnastics coaches talk of their gymnasts texting in the gym, and they adopted a different coaching style to accomodate the new "Americanized" as they put it generation. Also, for demanding sports like gymnastics, a gymnast who cannot now legally compete at the Olympics at the age of 15 if they don't turn 16 by the end of the Olympic year can miss out - it is hard to be at a peak elite level for 4 more years, perhaps even more so when missing out on a competition you are ready for because of age. There is 33 year old Oksana Chusovitina competing at these Summer Games who has been at her elite peak for 20 years now. Wow. Some say she is even getting better than before. Open it up!

2008 AA Olympic Champion gymnast Nastia Liukin's father wants age limit eliminated too (Nastia missed on the 2004 Olympics because she didn't meet the age requirement; her teammate at her gym WOGA Rebecca Bross missed out on these Olympics because she's 14 instead of 16 by the end of the Olympic year): posted under Chalk Talk in Gymnastics category: http://www.gymchat.com/messageboards/showthread.php?p=79949#post79949

14 year old Olympic diver Tom Daley's partner, Blake Aldridge, blames Daley's young age for his nervousness and having a bad last dive, taking them off the podium: [quote]"It's a synchro team, there's two of us, and that's the hard thing about it," Aldridge said. "Both of you have to be on your game at the same time and that just didn't happen today. Thomas is 14 years old. He's done phenomenally and for me to be a part of a partnership with him is a great thing. I knew, going into this Olympic Games, that we were capable of a medal, but I also knew that it depended on how Tom performed. I wasn't on the top of my game, but I out-dived Thomas today and that's not something that normally happens. That to me is because he had a lot more pressure on him than I did. "I'm not disappointed with my performance. I wasn't at my best but I landed on my head with every single dive, which was my aim. But it was hard work for me today. Tom was very nervous, more so than ever before. I think he really struggled to get through the competition, and as his partner it was hard for me to get up there and try and ease him into it. Unfortunately for me, it didn't work today. "He had a pop at me before the last dive, when we were sitting down. I saw my mum in the audience and I asked her to give me a call and Tom went to me, 'Why are you on the phone? We're still in the competition and we've got another dive to do.' That's just Thomas - he's over-nervous and that's how it was today. Thomas should not be worrying about what I'm doing, but today he was worrying about everyone and everything and that to me is really the sole reason why he didn't perform today."[/quote]Daley takes his Olympic experience, training for 2012 London Olympics: 2012 Olympics: [quote]Daley can look forward to mounting further challenges to the Chinese, German and Russian teams who took the medals, with London 2012 as the prime target. "I was quite disappointed," the schoolboy said of today's outcome, "but it was a great experience and I really enjoyed myself. I had so much fun out there. That's all you can ask, getting the experience. We just had a bad day. I tried to not make it feel different but there was lots of pressure on me and I was very nervous. It was there for the taking but it wasn't my day today. Now I'm looking at 2012, like I've always said."[/quote]Sounds like he didn't have much confidence to score well to medal at the 2008 Olympics here, saying "Now I'm looking at 2012, like I've always said". Daley also competing individual diving competition: [quote]For Aldridge, by contrast, the opportunity of glory disappeared for good when they failed to get the marks they felt they deserved for their opening dives. They had been in the bronze medal position after their first effort but a mark six out of 10 from one of the execution judges for their third dive, an inward three-and-a-half somersault, took the wind from their sails. They lost cohesion and were unable to recover as the dives became progressively more demanding. While Daley goes on to compete in the individual 10m platform event in 10 days' time, Aldridge will be on his way back home to Southampton. "Tom's lucky that he has got another chance," he concluded, "and I hope he takes a lot of experience from this and that it stands him in good stead. Unfortunately I don't have another chance."[/quote] "Olympics: Tom Daley partner Blake Aldridge blames youngster for diving failure

more than anything the age restriction is unfair. i am not sure that the officials realise that if a gymnast is 15 and misses the olympics she may have retired by the time the next one comes around. do they realise, that gymnasts dream of being elites for years and years and often, due to the combination of the ade restriction and the early retirement age for such a demanding sport, they spend only 2 or 3 years at the top level. if gymnasts could compete at 13 or 14 if they are ready, then there is a lot more chance of 4-5= years at elite and pssibly two olympic experiences. i think it should go either senior elite minimum= 13/14 (in the year of) junior elite minimum= 10/11 (in the year of) or no age requirements, which would be best undoubtedly

Sounds like he didn't have much confidence to score well to medal at the 2008 Olympics here, saying "Now I'm looking at 2012, like I've always said".