Older athletes (older like in the mid-late 20s or even 30s) will be stronger, faster, more disciplined, more experienced, than their 14-16 year equivalents. Is it just flexibility? There are circus contortionists and yoga enthusiasts that are incredibly flexible into their 30s or later.
I can’t think of any trait unique to gymnastics that other sports don’t also require to explain why gymnasts are so dang young, particularly the women’s. Men’s gymnastics seems to have a much older average age.
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when you’re young you’re basically made out of rubber, your body can handle a lot more abuse than it can when you get older. as you age, that abuse tends to add up, your joints get damaged and you can’t do as much anymore. contortion/yoga is not a high-impact activity like gymnastics is, that’s like the difference between stretching every day and jumping from the second story of a building every day.
that said, there’s a gymnast who’s the only woman to compete in 8 Olympics and one of the oldest to win a medal. she’s also one of the few that’s competed for like 3 or 4 different teams/countries.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksana_Chusovitina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksana_Chusovitina)
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