Purpose: To assess the historical changes in the size and age of the US women’s Olympic gymnastics teams from 1956 to 2008.
Methods: The official records from the US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics of Olympic team members were assessed at 2 levels: individual height, mass, age, and body-mass index (BMI) and the team performance scores and rankings. Fourteen Olympic teams with a total of 106 team members, including the alternates, were included. Trend analyses were conducted using linear and polynomial models.
Results: Simple linear correlations indicated that since 1956, height, mass, age, BMI, and team Olympic rank have been declining. However, second-order polynomial curve fits indicated that in the last 4 Olympic Games the members of the US women’s gymnastics teams have been getting larger.
Conclusion: Women Olympic gymnasts were getting smaller through approximately the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then the size of these gymnasts has increased. The minimum-age rule modifications may have played a role in athlete size changes along with a shift from the near dominance of the former communist Eastern Bloc.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etsu-works-5796 |
| Date | 01 December 2012 |
| Creators | Sands, William A., Slater, Cindy, McNeal, Jeni R., Murray, Steven Ross, Stone, Michael H. |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | ETSU Faculty Works |
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