AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTIC ACROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES FROM 2003 TO 2016

[...]more seasoned gymnasts found success in the sport by bringing elegance to their routines. In 1981, gymnasts were required to turn at least 15 years of age in the calendar year to compete in senior-level events. Since 1997, the Fédération Internatio-nale de Gymnastique, the gymnasts had to be at least 16 years old or to be turning 16 within the calendar year in order to take part in the competition as seniors. The results of independent t test were significant difference between OG and WC on Pommel horse (PH), Rings (RI), Paralel bars (PB), All-around individual (AAI) first place and Paralell bars (PB) first place. Since artistic gymnastics becomes each Olympic cycle over more demanding in terms of complexity and difficulty value of the elements, it is expected fact that gymnasts and coaches need more time to acquire stability, experience and safety when performing such complex exercises. According to the author (Nunomura, 2008), floor is the one most complex apparatus in artistic gymnastics and it is composed of acrobatic elements combined with gymnastic strength and balance exercises.