years old. In the 1970s, the average age of athletes participating in the Olympics began to decline. Although in the 1960s, it was not unheard of that teenagers would
compete in such competitions( for example, Ludmilla Tourischeva was 16 at her first start at the Olympics in 1968). However, the participation of ever-younger gymnasts slowly became the norm and at the same time the level of difficulty of this sport increased. Smaller, lighter girls generally achieved better results in the increasingly difficult acrobatic elements required by the changed scoring system. The 58th Congress of the International Gymnastic Federation, which took place in July 1980, just before the Olympic Games, decided to raise the minimum age limit entitling to take part in major international seniors ' occupations from 14 to 15 years old. These changes came into force two years later, but they did not eliminate the problem that existed at the time. Until the Olympic Games in Barcelona( 1992) the elite of the women ' s sports gymnastics constituted almost exclusively the so-called pikes- teenagers in the age of puberty and underweight. There were more and more voices questioning the actual well-being of female athletes who play this sport. In response to the accusations, the International Federation of Gymnastics in 1997 raised the minimum age limit entitling to take part in elite international competitions up to the age of 17. Also changed the scoring rules a bit, popular opinions about this sport also evolved, which resulted in the appearance of the highest rank again older players. Although the average age of elite gymnastics athletes is still in the range from middle to late teenage years and their height and weight is below average, gymnasts starting in the competition already significantly after the age of 20 are more and more often seen.
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