Why Are Gymnasts So Short? This Will Make You Think Twice!

Gymnastics as a sport combines balance, flexibility, agility, and coordination in one.

We all love watching our favorite gymnasts come on the TV and perform beautiful rotational spins in the air. Gymnasts are amazingly flexible and make every movement look absolutely effortless.

But the truth is, behind all those skills, there is a lot of hard work and sweat. There is a lot of different types of gymnastics.

The first and perhaps the most common one is women's artistic gymnastics. In this, the athletes use four apparatus and compete- vault, balance beam, floor exercise, and uneven bars. The second is men's artistic gymnastics.

Then comes the trampoline, acrobatic gymnastics, group gymnastics, tumbling, and rhythmic gymnastics. This as of now is a women-only sport. Rhythmic gymnastics is for athletes who are taller.

The rhythmic gymnasts are taller with an average height of more than 64 in (162 cm). The most successful rhythmic gymnast is Evgenia Kanaeva. Most of the famous elite gymnasts are short in height.

The short height and lighter weight help them in performing better. The shorter a gymnast, the easier it is to rotate or perform better. When it comes to the weight of a gymnast, there is no fixed number, it can vary.

Check out more such articles like gymnastics facts for kids and gymnastics history facts as well.

Short Female Gymnasts

When you see elite gymnasts, you must have noticed that the females are short and have a v-shaped body with muscular upper bodies. The reason for them being highly muscular can be the result of intensive training.

To perform advanced spins and rotations, along with flexibility, strong muscles are also required. For almost the past three decades, the average height of a female gymnast has significantly reduced.

The average height for an American female gymnast used to be about 63 in (160 cm). Currently, it is at about 57 in (144 cm).

Women are known to be shorter than men but it is quite fascinating to know why female gymnasts are short. Their short height has everything to do with their craft - gymnastics.

A shorter height gives them an advantage. The ratio of power to weight becomes a lot better. A smaller height of the girls would also mean that it is much easier to rotate in the air, spin at amazingly high speeds, and perform awesome stunts.

The moment of inertia significantly reduces when you have a shorter height. This can also explain why some female gymnasts also have shorter arms and legs.

Long limbs can make it more difficult to do these spins. Apart from the ability to do awesome rotational movements, their small height also reduces their chances of injury.

In some cases, it has also been found that intensive Olympic training on women gymnasts can at times have a negative impact on their menstruation cycle. The long hours of practice causing stress can be a contributing factor. However, another research has found no link between the two and suggested that it just might be a coincidence.

Short Male Gymnasts

Similar to the benefits of short height for female gymnasts, even male gymnasts can perform better movements when they are shorter in height. This is all about physics. The power and strength are inversely proportional to an individual's height. Moment of inertia also plays a crucial role.

The moment of inertia is dependent on the distance of the mass from the axis of rotation. The male gymnasts tend to be thinner as well as shorter in comparison to the average height and weight of a man at that age.

The bone age of gymnasts also gets delayed significantly. The larger your moments, the moment of inertia also increases.

Due to the short height of males as well as female gymnasts, it is believed that gymnastics stunts growth.

According to a study conducted in the year 2004, intensive training was shown to impact the maturation and the musculoskeletal growth that occurs during puberty. However, in another research, it was found that intense training in gymnastics doesn't have any considerable impact on lower body or upper body growth.

Famous Short Height Gymnasts

This sport which requires high levels of balance, flexibility, coordination, strength as well as agility in the body has seen many short-height gymnasts who have done exceptionally well in their careers. Their extensive training results in extremely strong muscles.

The training for gymnasts can start at a very early age. Younger and lighter gymnasts can perform better.

This is why many gymnasts are so young and stay short. Children at a very young age should be encouraged to learn gymnastics. It is a great tool that can help them in becoming more disciplined, having a healthy body as well as better coordination.

It is not at all bad for them. Just one thing to keep in mind is to be careful so that they don't get injured and should not be under any stress.

When gymnasts start training at an early age, it can have a slight impact on their height. But, having a short height is extremely advantageous for gymnasts and the following famous gymnasts' short height proves just that.

Mary Lou Retton - This famous, retired American gymnast became the first American woman who secured an all-around gold medal in Olympic gymnastics. She created history with her win. Mary Lou Retton has a height of 55 in (139.7 cm).

Kerri Allyson Strug Fischer - She became famous for performing the vault even though she had an injured ankle in the 1996 summer Olympics. She is about 55 in (139.7 cm) tall.

Claudia Fragapane - She is a British artistic gymnast who won four gold medals in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. She is about 54 in (137 cm) tall.

Famous Olympic Short Height Gymnasts

After reading about all the advantages in gymnastics of being short, let us find out about some of the famous gymnasts who have made their countries super proud of their achievements in sport.

There are very few people in the world who are not aware of this amazing, fantastic gymnast. Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast all over the world with a whopping 32 World Championship and Olympic medals.

Simone has a height of 56 in (142.2 cm).

Jordan Chiles is an elite gymnast and a member of the United State's women's national gymnastics team since the year 2013, represented the United States in 2020, and won a silver in the team event. She has a height of 59 in (149 cm).

Shawn Johnson East is one of the former artistic gymnasts, she secured a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. She was also the all-around World Champion in the year 2007.

Shawn Johnson's height is 57 in (144 cm).

Dominique Margaux Dawes is another retired gymnast, also known by the name 'awesome Dawesome' is not one, but three-time Olympian along with receiving silver and a bronze medal at the World Championship.

She is among the selected few apart from Linda Metheny-Mulvihill and Muriel Grossfeld who competed in three Olympics and were also a part of the medal-winning teams there.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for why are gymnasts so short, then why not take a look at gymnastics Olympic medals or famous black gymnasts?