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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Post pubescent women have a tremendous moment of inertia disadvantage due to adult female physiology (big hips, big breasts) compared to girls and boys. Meanwhile, post pubescent men keep the same advantages as their boyhood selves (narrow hips, male breasts) and pick up a tremendous advantage in relative strength, particularly in their upper body.
You may notice that elite women gymnasts tend to be narrower in the hips, have smaller breasts, and be of shorter height than what you might think of as the typical form of a woman (elite athletic tone not withstanding). This is not a coincidence. It is dramatically advantageous to have these physical features in gymnastics as it makes your ability to rotate and balance much more efficient in terms of the energy and torque demands.
Moreover, having specific and atypical bodily features isn’t unique to gymnastics. Being at physiological extremes in one way or another is typical in all elite sports. Elite basketball players are obnoxiously tall and have overly large wingspans. Elite baseball players have the eyesight of hawks. Elite swimmers have their height heavily concentrated in their torsos, making them more boat like. Elite weightlifters also tend to have smaller limbs and larger bodies. Elite runners are the opposite, having their height concentrated in their legs with much smaller torsos.
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