Gymnastics: changing for the better?

Imagine an Olympic gymnast and you conjure up a picture of a small, slight child accomplishing dazzling feats on the vault, asymmetric bars, beam, or floor area. Now look back at the Atlanta Olympics. The same dazzling feats, but most of the gymnasts were no longer children. Yes, they were small and slight, but they had breasts and hips and waists. Female Olympic gymnastics has come full circle. Those of us who remember the beauty of Ludmila Tourischeva and Elvira Saadi will rejoice that the post-Korbut and Comaneci days of the pre-pubescent acrobat have once again been replaced by the flexibility and grace of the young woman. The governing body of the sport has changed the regulations for international competition, so that the gymnast has to have reached her 16th birthday in the year of the competition. These have to be forward steps, not just because of the aesthetics of one style of gymnastics versus another, but because of the implications for the physical and emotional health of the gymnasts. This is not to be complacent-raising the age at which a gymnast can compete internationally will not automatically eliminate the physical and emotional problems associated with gymnastics. The sport of Olympic gymnastics tends to attract girls with personalities leading them to strive for perfection, with attention to detail and obsessive behaviour.' These traits also occur in young women with eating disorders. Judges and coaches are extremely influential in imposing their views of what the ideal gymnast should look like either through oblique comments , or in the allocation of marks. The fact that many of the world's leading gymnasts have appeared to be pre-pubescent has meant that the pressures towards extreme weight control have proved overwhelming for some gymnasts in trying to emulate those they admire. Eating disorders in association with gymnastics, as well as other "feminine sports" have been recognised as part of the female athlete triad of amenorrhoea, eating disorder, and osteoporosis.2 Although the load-bearing dynamic exercise involved in gymnastics means that the resultant osteoporo-sis may be less than expected,' coaches must acknowledge their responsibilities in recognising and dealing with eating disorders in gymnasts. The present change in female gymnastics represents a change of attitude towards the age and shape of gymnasts among coaches, judges, and competitors , and is to be welcomed. Gymnastics, like any other sport pursued at a high level, is all-consuming. It requires a …