Well, yes, but if they'd grown significantly, they'd have washed out of the sport before you got to know them as gymnasts.
Willow: That's a work ethic! Buffy, you're developing a work ethic! Buffy: Do they make an ointment for that?
'Beneath You'
Spike's Bitches 42: Which question do you want me to answer first?
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
brenda m - Aug 10, 2008 6:23:32 pm PDT #860 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
Hil R. - Aug 10, 2008 6:26:11 pm PDT #861 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Yeah. Kind of like basketball players are tall. It's an asset for the sport.
And Natter's favorite gymnast, Svetlana Khorkina, is about 5'5".
JenP - Aug 10, 2008 6:26:38 pm PDT #862 of 10001
Why is smaller good for gymnastics? I'm sure there are physics reasons, but I don't know what they are.
smonster - Aug 10, 2008 6:31:56 pm PDT #863 of 10001
We won’t stop until everyone is gay.
When gymnasts hit puberty, it throws off their center of balance, which then screws with all the flipping and such they have to do. They have to relearn everything.
Such is my understanding... Kat would know more.
Hil R. - Aug 10, 2008 6:32:44 pm PDT #864 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Well, I think it depends on the event. I think there's a bit of an advantage to being bigger on vault, but a huge advantage to being smaller on bars. For the men, shorter legs would seem to make pommel horse much easier.
SailAweigh - Aug 10, 2008 6:33:39 pm PDT #865 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
Center of gravity is lower. Very important for balance beam, makes you a heck of a lot more stable. On the uneven parallel bars it means you don't have to make as many contortions to avoid the lower bar when circling the upper. Makes you spin faster, too.
Hil R. - Aug 10, 2008 6:35:37 pm PDT #866 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
When gymnasts hit puberty, it throws off their center of balance, which then screws with all the flipping and such they have to do. They have to relearn everything.
Same thing happens in most sports. Skating jumps feel really different with and without hips.
I think that this is a large part of the reason why the very young Olympians (from before the minimum age of 16 was put in) tended to not have a second Olympics, while a bunch who had their first Olympics around age 16 or 17 ended up going to a second and sometimes even a third. It's much easier to go through the body changes if you're not trying to keep your world title at the same time. If you get to that level after you've gone through puberty, you just have to work on staying there with pretty much the same body.
smonster - Aug 10, 2008 6:36:31 pm PDT #867 of 10001
We won’t stop until everyone is gay.
JenP - Aug 10, 2008 6:39:28 pm PDT #868 of 10001
Oh, interesting. Really a combination of reasons. The puberty body changes/having to relearn moves isn't something I'd have thought about. Makes sense.
smonster - Aug 10, 2008 6:41:24 pm PDT #869 of 10001
We won’t stop until everyone is gay.
Svetlana Boginskaya was a rare gymnast to perform in 3 Olympics. She competed in her first Olympics at 19. I remember she looked like a GIANT next to the others in 1996, her final Olympics, but was only 5'4".
Okay, really going to bed now.