Tokyo Olympics

Rocker

I am not convinced that allowing a 13 year old child compete at the Olympic Games was wise.  Even if she did win a Bronze medal.

sinbaadi

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

fob

Rocker said:

I am not convinced that allowing a 13 year old child compete at the Olympic Games was wise.  Even if she did win a Bronze medal.

Out of interest - why not?

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

Surely age shouldn't be a factor. I could say people over 18 shouldn't be allowed to compete because they've had more time to practice and perfect their chosen sport. If you're good enough, you're good enough.

EricTheWeary

There used to be quite a few gymnasts who were 14 and 15 and they changed the rules to a minimum age of 16. On the whole they are usually about 18 now - young enough to be super flexible and recover from injury quickly and old enough to be physically stronger and maybe cope with the emotional/ psychological side of competing a bit better. I guess.
So, I'm surprised that  a 13 year old is being allowed to compete in a sport. Just seems out of line with rules for other events. There is the international children's games for 12 to 15 year olds  which is part of the olympic family as well. 
  

WezV

Bronze for Frazer Clarke.   

Worth watching the quarterfinal fight where his opponent was disqualified for for headshots, leaving Frazer with cuts above both eyes.   His opponent did not take the disqualification well and sat ringside for 20 minutes as a protest

Unfortunately the cut opened up again in the semi finals, ending the fight early

Philly_Q

fob said:

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

Surely age shouldn't be a factor. I could say people over 18 shouldn't be allowed to compete because they've had more time to practice and perfect their chosen sport. If you're good enough, you're good enough.

Under the current rules it seems these young kids are the best in the sport and that's why they've been selected.  There may be an argument that kids that young shouldn't be competing for reasons of their current and future wellbeing - as in gymnastics - but that's nothing to do with how good they are.

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

fob said:

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

Surely age shouldn't be a factor. I could say people over 18 shouldn't be allowed to compete because they've had more time to practice and perfect their chosen sport. If you're good enough, you're good enough.

Under the current rules it seems these young kids are the best in the sport and that's why they've been selected.  There may be an argument that kids that young shouldn't be competing for reasons of their current and future wellbeing - as in gymnastics - but that's nothing to do with how good they are.

I don’t see the problem; if they’re the best in the sport then they should be competing at the top level. They were saying on bbc this morning that the average age of the skateboarding girls was 14 so Sky isn’t even outrageously young compared to the others. She seems to have a very level head on her shoulders and didn’t seem unduly phased by dropping her most difficult trick in her first two rounds. Lots of support from her dad and her coach too. Good luck to her and well done on getting the bronze. 

munckee

WezV said:

Bronze for Frazer Clarke.   

Worth watching the quarterfinal fight where his opponent was disqualified for for headshots, leaving Frazer with cuts above both eyes.   His opponent did not take the disqualification well and sat ringside for 20 minutes as a protest

Unfortunately the cut opened up again in the semi finals, ending the fight early

Shame the fight ended early. I don’t think he would have won anyway but did well to get a medal. 

WezV

munckee said:

WezV said:

Bronze for Frazer Clarke.   

Worth watching the quarterfinal fight where his opponent was disqualified for for headshots, leaving Frazer with cuts above both eyes.   His opponent did not take the disqualification well and sat ringside for 20 minutes as a protest

Unfortunately the cut opened up again in the semi finals, ending the fight early

Shame the fight ended early. I don’t think he would have won anyway but did well to get a medal. 

yeah, he wasn't going to win it.    Just a shame he had to go in injured from the previous fight.  

underdog

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

You may want to tell Tony Hawk that skateboarding ends at 20 then.

What a load of cobblers, did you not see how each competitor supported the others? Unlike football, rugby etc the minority sports have a sense of community outside of the competition itself. Was the same with the BMX. If they are good enough, why shouldn't they compete at something they love?

Teens have been at the Olympics for as long as I can remember in the gymnastics.

Rocker

fob said:

Rocker said:

I am not convinced that allowing a 13 year old child compete at the Olympic Games was wise.  Even if she did win a Bronze medal.

Out of interest - why not?

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

Surely age shouldn't be a factor. I could say people over 18 shouldn't be allowed to compete because they've had more time to practice and perfect their chosen sport. If you're good enough, you're good enough.

There must be a minimum age before competing in world events like the Olympic Games.   At 13, a child is starting to develope into adulthood.  16 seems to be the minimum age for gymnasts so the same should apply to all sports.  

sinbaadi

underdog said:

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

You may want to tell Tony Hawk that skateboarding ends at 20 then.

What a load of cobblers, did you not see how each competitor supported the others? Unlike football, rugby etc the minority sports have a sense of community outside of the competition itself. Was the same with the BMX. If they are good enough, why shouldn't they compete at something they love?

Teens have been at the Olympics for as long as I can remember in the gymnastics.

It's not about comradery or anything like that.  Are you suggesting that a 5 year old should be allowed to compete against a 25 year old at the Olympic games?  Where's the line?

Junior/youth/senior levels are not uncommon.  To suggest that a 10 year old should be given the chance to drive at a senior level in a sport like karting, simply because they love it, would be absurd.  Take away the risk factors, it's still taking a senior sport and turning it into something else.  

You can say that the senior skaters should be better, sure.  You can't blame the kids that are beating them, but tell me the sport is better off when all you have is 13 year olds.  Tony Hawk is a product of a very different era and how could anyone possibly have a career like his in a sport where you'd be past it by 18.

underdog

sinbaadi said:

underdog said:

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

You may want to tell Tony Hawk that skateboarding ends at 20 then.

What a load of cobblers, did you not see how each competitor supported the others? Unlike football, rugby etc the minority sports have a sense of community outside of the competition itself. Was the same with the BMX. If they are good enough, why shouldn't they compete at something they love?

Teens have been at the Olympics for as long as I can remember in the gymnastics.

It's not about comradery or anything like that.  Are you suggesting that a 5 year old should be allowed to compete against a 25 year old at the Olympic games?  Where's the line?

Junior/youth/senior levels are not uncommon.  To suggest that a 10 year old should be given the chance to drive at a senior level in a sport like karting, simply because they love it, would be absurd.  Take away the risk factors, it's still taking a senior sport and turning it into something else.  

You can say that the senior skaters should be better, sure.  You can't blame the kids that are beating them, but tell me the sport is better off when all you have is 13 year olds.  Tony Hawk is a product of a very different era and how could anyone possibly have a career like his in a sport where you'd be past it by 18.

Who is past it by 18 in skateboarding? Do you watch a lot of skateboarding? 

Let's not forget that all these teens have reached the qualifying criteria to be at the Olympics, they are competing against adults because they can, they are good enough, they are the best and probably will still be among the best in another decade.

If they weren't at the Olympics they'd be at their local skatepark doing exactly the same tricks with the same risk factors, they do it out of love of the sport nothing else. 

The issue with gymnastics and teen stars was always about how it damaged their well being due to the amount of time they were made to give and the questionable drug programs.

FastEddie

Rocker said:

fob said:

Rocker said:

I am not convinced that allowing a 13 year old child compete at the Olympic Games was wise.  Even if she did win a Bronze medal.

Out of interest - why not?

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

Surely age shouldn't be a factor. I could say people over 18 shouldn't be allowed to compete because they've had more time to practice and perfect their chosen sport. If you're good enough, you're good enough.

There must be a minimum age before competing in world events like the Olympic Games.   At 13, a child is starting to develope into adulthood.  16 seems to be the minimum age for gymnasts so the same should apply to all sports.  

If she is good enough then she is old enough.
I always felt the Olympics was about 'the spirit' of competition, Eddie the Eagle, the slow swimmer, need I go on. 

next they will be letting (biological) men compete against women, what they did?

Whatever next.

boogieman

Rocker said:

fob said:

Rocker said:

I am not convinced that allowing a 13 year old child compete at the Olympic Games was wise.  Even if she did win a Bronze medal.

Out of interest - why not?

sinbaadi said:

Agreed.  And to be honest it makes a bit of a mockery of the competition.  Professional careers should start at 18 not end at 19 when the new wunderkind comes along that can flip and spin in ways adults find harder. 

Surely age shouldn't be a factor. I could say people over 18 shouldn't be allowed to compete because they've had more time to practice and perfect their chosen sport. If you're good enough, you're good enough.

There must be a minimum age before competing in world events like the Olympic Games.   At 13, a child is starting to develope into adulthood.  16 seems to be the minimum age for gymnasts so the same should apply to all sports.  

Why must there be a minimum age? What magically happens at 16 to make a difference? I don’t understand the logic of making them wait, unless you’re talking about pumping younger gymnast full of drugs or steroids to bulk them up? But that doesn’t apply to all Olympic sports.  

Where were all the older skateboarding girls? These were the world’s top performers and are obviously at the peak of their skills at 13/14 as all the competitors were the same sort of age, so why shouldn’t they compete? 

DiscoStu

I watched the women's speed climbing this morning. Very impressive!

euan

If you aren't letting those teenage girls into the Olympics you aren't letting the best in the world compete at what is meant to be the greatest athletic competition. That makes more of a mockery of sport than teenagers(who have been competing with greater pressure at the X Games) attending and winning.

hollywoodrox

I was going to mention the X games , if Sky is ok to compete and win Gold in the most serious hardcore world of the X games at 11 and be ranked 3rd in  the world  It would be a grave disservice to not allow her to compete in the olympics . These also are not just sports ,they are a lifestyle , she nearly died the other year in an accident,she deserves to be there

sinbaadi

I am playing devil's advocate here tbh.  I like extreme sports, and what these kids can do is unreal.  20 years ago it would have been unthinkable.

I find it odd that nobody sees a downside for these girls in the long term, though.  Particularly if being small gives them an advantage now.   Young blood always comes through, but senior careers shouldn't be ended by growing up.

EricTheWeary

When I heard 'Sky Brown at the Olympics' I thought well I didn't know they were being held in North Wales this year.