# Should there be a lower age limit/minimum age for participation in the Olympics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 24, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204 "2021-07-24T16:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204/21 "2021-07-25T03:31:46Z")
Agreed. The Olympics is about talent and performance, not age. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204/22 "2021-07-25T03:38:01Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I don’t mean “evenly-matched” in terms of ability, only WRT age. I want to see the Olympics as a controlled field, with boundaries, requirements for inclusion and exclusion. I don’t like the idea of the **Olympics** as a wide-open, anything-goes, free-for-all with the only qualifier being athletic ability, period. What does this even mean? The Olympics very purpose is about athletic talent and it has been for more than two thousand years. Excluding a qualified athlete is discriminatory. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204/23 "2021-07-25T05:39:43Z")
There’s no overarching age minimum or age maximum for the Olympics as a whole, but for each particular sport they defer to the existing age restrictions of that sport’s international regulatory body. For example, in gymnastics gymnasts are required to be a minimum of 16 years old (rule instituted in 1997), whereas divers have to be at least 14 years old. While I agree that sports where the younger participants are competitive on the world stage may lend themselves to abuse and overworking of child athletes, on the other hand, had such age minimums been in place from the beginning, the world would’ve been deprived of seeing sensations such as Nadia Comăneci achieve the first 10.0 score in gymnastics at the age of 14, or Katie Ledecky winning gold in the 800 meter freestyle and almost setting a new world record in the process at the age of 15. So it’s a mixed bag of emotions for me. I also wonder if there _were_ to be an age minimum for a sport which didn’t have one before, whether the parents wouldn’t still enroll their children at an absurdly young age anyway, thereby prolonging their suffering. At least with no age minimum, the kids get to have their time in the sun sooner, and then they can retire if they sicken of the sport. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > If you’re going to ask me, should there be an upper age limit, I’ll say I don’t know. What do you think? Apparently, in boxing they have a maximum age of 40. Not surprising that with boxing being such a brutal one-on-one sport, they don’t want old grandpas getting into the ring and being pummeled by in-their-prime youngsters, what with all the bad optics of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and dementia. I couldn’t find maximum age restrictions for other sports, so if someone can be competitive with others half his age and not risk a heart attack in the process, all the more power to them, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204/24 "2021-07-25T12:57:21Z")
> [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](#): > > Apparently, in boxing they have a maximum age of 40. Not surprising that with boxing being such a brutal one-on-one sport, they don’t want old grandpas getting into the ring and being pummeled by in-their-prime youngsters Leaving aside, of course, that the _professional_ heavyweight championship was successfully defended by Foreman and Klitschko when they were ably pummeling in their forties — the latter doing so at, as it happens, Olympic Stadium! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204/25 "2021-07-25T14:03:56Z")
Well, I can see I’m vastly outnumbered here. No prob. That’s what the Dope is all about. Although I chastise myself for failing to make the point I set out to make. The fact that someone could even say the following tells me that: > [@Oredigger77](#): > > If you took some sub section say white christian males it wouldn’t be as interesting. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Keep discussing among yourselves if so inclined. I’m going out for coffee. 👋🏽 * * * Aside, the son of a good friend of mine won multiple gold medals in swimming a few (more than a few) years back. The boy was in high school at the time. I acknowledge that kids can be great athletes and beat out all comers. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204/26 "2021-07-25T14:06:21Z")
Not sure if anyone has made this point but if there _was_ a lower age limit, the kids who might otherwise go to the games would instead compete at the very highest levels short of the Olympics. In other words, nothing would change. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-lower-age-limit-minimum-age-for-participation-in-the-olympics/947204.md?page=1)