June 11, 2004
By Randi Druzin
CBC Sports Online

Are women reclaiming gymnastics from the pixies?

Ever since Nadia Comaneci bewitched the world at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, women's gymnastics has been the domain of young girls subjected to controversial training regimens. Svetlana Khorkina, the 25-year-old all-around world champion from Russia could be changing that.

Nadia Comaneci seemed superhuman. Or barely human.

The pint-sized Romanian gymnast earned seven perfect scores of 10.0 and won five medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, becoming the darling of the Montreal Games without breaking a sweat. She took no apparent notice of her opponents, and at press conferences, she displayed as much emotion as a commuter waiting for the morning train.

Toronto Star reporter Len Coates speculated at the time that Comaneci was "the world's first bionic athlete" or "a robot cleverly disguised as a 14-year-old girl."

But if anything, she may have been a girl disguised as an automaton.

After the Games, Comaneci returned to Romania and was given a rapturous welcome by thousands of fans. Disembarking from the plane, she was visibly distressed. Asked what was wrong, she explained she was "a little upset" because one of her dolls had lost its head in the plane.

The medal-winning machine was indeed a young girl. She was also very small, standing just four-foot-10 (1.47 metres) and weighing 88 pounds (39.92 kilograms). Baby strollers come bigger than that these days.

Younger, smaller, lighter

Comaneci's phenomenal success accelerated a trend in which female gymnasts became younger and smaller.

Sixteen years later, at the 1992 Barcelona Games, the average height and weight of American female gymnasts was four-foot-nine (1.45 metres) and 83 pounds (37.65 kilograms). That was seven inches (17.78 centimetres) shorter and 41 pounds (18.60kg) lighter than the average American female gymnast at the 1956 Melbourne Games.

By the 1990s, the trend started to set off alarm bells. There was talk in gymnastics circles that perhaps the mental and physical rigours of elite competition were too much for young, tiny girls.

They pointed to the dangers of certain maneuvers and to several girls who had been seriously injured in practice. Some critics cited studies that concluded rigorous training at such an early age could delay the onset of puberty.

Such concerns were all the more pervasive after the 1996 Atlanta Games, where American Kerri Strug made sports history.

The 86-pound (39kg) teenager tore ligaments in her ankle on her first vault in the team competition. But she executed an excellent second vault, and the Americans celebrated their first-ever gold medal in team competition.

Strug's famous vault was unnecessary because the Americans had already sewn up the victory. None of the Americans knew that at the time and few people remember it now. However, no one has forgotten the medal ceremony.

Bela Karolyi, the Romanian coach who had discovered Comaneci and developed a reputation for pushing, criticizing and working his athletes to the breaking point, carried his elfin athlete with her bandaged limb to the medal podium.

The image warmed the hearts of some observers, but unnerved others, including journalist Joan Ryan. Her book, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, discussed injuries and eating disorders among young female gymnasts. The book also criticized Karolyi's tough coaching methods.

Ryan's book also looked at American gymnast Christy Henrich, who died from an eating disorder after being told by a judge she would have to lose weight to make the Olympic team.

A sport for women again?

Could the pendulum be swinging back to more womanly gymnasts with the success of Svetlana Khorkina of Russia, who won the all-around world championship at 24 last year? (AFP)
In response to public concern, in 1996, the International Gymnastics Federation raised the age at which gymnasts could start competing internationally to 16 years old.

"Coaches were pushing gymnasts too fast too early," said Dwight Normile, editor of International Gymnast.

Today's gymnasts are older and, often, bigger. For example, Russian Svetlana Khorkina is 25 years old, stands five-foot-four and weighs 101.4 pounds. She's a fraction the size of an NFL offensive lineman, but still a lot bigger than the typical gymnast of the last 25 years.

Her size hasn't been a stumbling block; Khorkina has won four Olympic medals, including two gold in the uneven bars, and will be a medal favourite in Athens. She won the all-around world championship last year at an age when an earlier generation of female gymnasts would have been long since consigned to the ranks of coaching or television analysts.

The age requirement isn't the only factor contributing to the "advanced" age of elite gymnasts. These athletes are staying competitive longer because there's added incentive to do so; decent prize money is now up for grabs at invitational competitions.

"Age and physical dimensions aren't as big an issue now as in the past," says top Canadian gymnast Kyle Shewfelt. "Everyone has learned from past mistakes. The female competitors now have a say in what they do."

reprinted with permission