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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Women’s gymnastics used to be about grace and ballet, and had an idealized image of an anorexic 15-year-old. When they brought in open-ended scoring, the focus shifted more towards strength and athleticism. If you watch the 2012 and 2016 US women’s teams, they entirely ignore the choreography, and just win by jumping higher than everyone else. This is also when women’s gymnasts started to look like scaled down football players. The change in focus from gracefulness to athleticism also has made women’s gymnasts much older. Women are now competing into their mid to late twenties, the same way that men are. If you go back to highlights from the 96 Olympics, and then watch the current games, it is striking to see just how much bigger modern gymnasts are.
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