I'd rather have an elite gymnast body snd be shorter than the sholders competitive (and even not so competitive) swimming develops. Have a friend who used to swim w the 96/00 swimmers before she decided not to go full olympic prep and she can't find blazers /jackets/coats easily at all, 20 years later.

Wow, I actually had no idea that the training stunted their growth - I've always just assumed it was one of those sports that attracted people of a certain size (like basketball and tall people.) It seems really disturbing ....

Lol have you ever seen one irl? They are cute, tiny, and can beat you up with their pinky finger. Nothing to feel sorry about because that level of training cannot be sustained much longer and they have experienced a level of achievement the rest of us are too old, tired, and lazy to reach. Sure they look like men now, but the body mostly recovers and they will have a great strength for a long time.

Every intensively pursued occupation, sports or otherwise, comes at a cost (golf, violin, chess, etc). Generally that cost is happily borne by the people practicing the occupation, because they LIKE it.

Yes, they look strong and powerful. And short. Most certainly, they traded a few inches for their sport.

Have you seen Dominique Moceanu and the other Magnificent 7? They all look fantastic.

http://www.si.com/olympics/2016/07/08/gymnastics-magnificent-seven-1996-olympics-atlanta

There's a 41 year old gymnast from Uzbekistan competing in the Olympics, who's had a couple kids.

Oksana Chusovitina - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksana_Chusovitina

So now we are short shaming?

Get a fucking life

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They look fantastic to me. But I'm an athlete. My view may be distorted.

How tall are you? Most of those girls are the height of an average 10-year-old.

They're not all that short. Aly raisman is 5'2" and so is Madison Kocian. Laurie Hernandez is 5'0". That's short but not off the charts short. Simone Biles is the shortest in the US team by far

Many look horrible. I miss Khorkina and Liukin. 5'2" and 5'5".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They look fantastic to me. But I'm an athlete. My view may be distorted.

How tall are you? Most of those girls are the height of an average 10-year-old.

I'm not tall 5'4. I weigh 115. I would love to add muscle mass.

Anonymous wrote:They look fantastic to me. But I'm an athlete. My view may be distorted.

How tall are you? Most of those girls are the height of an average 10-year-old.

They look fantastic to me. But I'm an athlete. My view may be distorted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you OP. Some of them are more extreme.

Nobody wants to be 4-9 as an adult.

I'm 4'10 at 41. It just is what it is. This is as tall as I was ever going to be.

And you're taller than some of those girls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to agree, that the intensive training clearly stunts their growth, when they are naturally small to begin with. Simone Biles is 19 years old and 4'8". I have heard of older gymnasts finally growing a little after they ease up on the training but I doubt she will ever be 5 feet tall.

Does their training stunt their growth, or is it that the ones who get taller drop out as their height increases?

It stunts their growth. I know someone who was an elite gymnast and when she competed in high school she was 5'. She quit before college because of an injury, and she grew 7" her freshman year of college. She's no longer petite at all (she's gorgeous, but tall and athletic, not petite).

Holy cow! At least she was able to get to her destined height.