# Gymnastics - are women allowed to compete in "men's" events?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [May 10, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724 "2015-05-10T21:31:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724/1 "2015-05-10T21:31:43Z")

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ISTR - but can’t find any cite - that the Olympics have specific provisions requiring women to compete only with women (except, I believe, in equestrian events). Is that correct?

Does this apply generally? Or could a woman who was good at, say, the pommel horse compete against the men at the US Championships?

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724/2 "2015-05-11T19:05:57Z")

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Women USED to compete directly with men at shooting. As recently as 1976, a woman won the silver medal in shooting.

But women have their own shooting events now, and even if a woman were good enough to compete with the men, she wouldn’t be allowed to.

Women are not allowed to compete on the rings or other men’s events, and generally lack the upper body strength to do well in those events anyway.

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724/3 "2015-05-12T14:03:10Z")

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AFAICT gender testing is only done on female athletes in the Olympics, so in theory a woman could compete with men if her country selected her.

On a practical level, the chances of a woman with the upper body strength to compete with men at the elite level in men’s gymnastics is essentially zero, so the question isn’t likely to arise.

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724/4 "2015-05-14T06:36:44Z")

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Aren’t the men that compete in Olympic level gymnastics in their late teens-early twenties, while female gymnasts generally peak in the mid-late teens. If thats the case, Im guessing there might be something a little odd about having men old enough to drink competing directly against 14 year old girls. Plus, some of the events are different (i.e. the men compete in rings).

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gymnastics-are-women-allowed-to-compete-in-mens-events/719724/5 "2015-05-28T02:20:42Z")

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On some levels, apparently yes - [Meet the Mom Who Competes in Men’s Gymnastics](https://www.yahoo.com/style/meet-the-mom-who-competes-in-mens-gymnastics-120026909418.html)