Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTIC ACROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES FROM 2003 TO 2016 Almir Atikovic1, Suncica Delas Kalinski2, Ivan Cuk3 faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2Faculty of kinesiology, University of Split, Croatia 3Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia _Original article Abstract The aim of research was to analysis development and age structure of male and female participants at the Olympic Games (OG) and World Championships (WC) from 2003 until 2016. The total number of analyzed WC participants in men's artistic gymnastics (MAG) was 2678 and the women's artistic gymnastics (WAG) was 1981; while at the OG in MAG 391 and in WAG 389. In the last 15 years, there has been identified linear and second-order polynomial-regression increase in the age structure of participants in MAG and WAG in the largest world competitions. In analyzed period of time, MAG and WAG age of gymnasts increased. The male gymnasts from 2003 to 2016 are on average older for 2.3 years and female gymnasts for 3.3 years. In the upcoming period, we do expect (with apparatus specialization) that age will rise. Keywords: artistic gymnastics, Code of Points, development, men, women. INTRODUCTION Chronological age refers to the number of years and days elapsed since birth. Success in gymnastics is the result of many years of extensive planning and preparation by coaches, clubs, parents and other supporting partners. Long term development applies to all levels of participants and in all gymnastics disciplines. Scientific research (Drabik, 1996; Rost & Schon, 1997, Hofmann, 1999; Bompa, 1999, Arkaev & Suchilin, 2004; Balyi et al., 2005; Malina, 2010; Fink & Hofmann, 2015; Fink, Hofmann, & Ortiz Lopez, 2015) has concluded that it takes a minimum of ten years, 10,000 hours of deliberate training for a talented athlete to reach elite levels. This translates into an average of more than 3 hours of training daily for 10 years. There are no shortcuts; athlete development is a long term process. Artistic Gymnastics in the 1950s and 1960s, the senior competition was dominated by athletes in their mid-to-late twenties. At the time, the "Code of Points" aimed more on artistry and was largely inspired by ballet. As a result, more seasoned gymnasts found success in the sport by bringing elegance to their routines. Up until 1981 the minimum age Science of Gymnastics Journal 251 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 for participating in senior competitions was 14 years of age. 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 age limit for participation at a world championship has been moved up. Today, the limit sits at 18 for MAG and 16 for the WAG (Sands et al., 2012; Grossfeld, 2014; FIG Technical Regulations 2017, Art. 5.2. Pg. 37). However, the age limitations were introduced to gymnastics for: physiological reasons, protecting children from harmful exposure, time training, early growth, growth of body segments, pubertal growth and maturation, sex characteristics, menarche, nutritional status, weight-for-height, gymnastics training environment, familial factors. There is also the concern that imposed training limits could lead to more injuries (Anderson, 1997; Paul, 2010, Sands et al., 2012). Research on age in timeline from 1964 until 1980 were conducted by Rozin & Ceburaev (1981) and showed age of top male gymnasts at the Olympic Games [OG1964, (M=25.6, SD=2.9); OG1968, (m=24.2, SD 3.4); OG1972, (M=24.6, SD=2.8); OG1976 (M=23.3, SD=4.0); 0G1980, (M=23.2, SD=3.1)]. Minimum age for MAG participants was 13.0 years at the WC1987 and rose to 16.0 years at the 1997 WC. The age of men have since increased: 16.5 (WC1987), 17.4 (WC1997), 18.0 (0G2000), and 18.8 (0G2008) years (Malina et al., 2013). The demands of the Olympic gymnastics have continued to escalate, and currently, a light, powerful, and usually, petite athlete is optimal (Arkaev & Suchilin, 2004). Authors (Sands et al., 2012) state in the conclusion, that the US Women Olympic gymnasts were getting approximately smaller through the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, the size of these gymnasts has increased. The minimum age rule modifications may have played a role in the athlete size changes along with a shift from the near dominance of the former communist Eastern Bloc (Sands et al., 2012). In this research (Andreev, 2015) try to analyze different age aspects of 143 elite male gymnasts, Olympic medal holders for the time period 1960 - 2012. The average starting age to practice artistic male gymnastics is dropping more than 50% 14 to 6.2 from the beginning to the end of the researching time period 1960-2012. The average retirement age also has a trend of decreasing from the age of 36 to 26.4 or nearly 10 years. The average Olympic medal age is rejuvenating from 27 in Rome'60 to the age of 23.3 in London'12 and the "golden" age to earn the Olympic medal in male artistic gymnastics is 24. The rings are the "oldest" apparatus with an average age of 25.1 for medallists and the floor exercise is the "youngest"- 23. Atikovic, Delaš Kalinski and Smajlovic (2017) in this study it was investigate the historical analysis of the chronological age trend of all participants of men's artistic gymnastics who have won medals in the period between 1896 and 2016 has been made. The oldest gymnasts are on the Rings with an average age on (OG: M = 26.48, SD = 3.85) and (WC: M = 40.23, SD = 3.50) years old, and the youngest in the same are contestants (OG: Floor = 23.09, SD = 3.88) and (WC: M = 7.86 SD = 4.02). The results of independent t test were significant difference between OG and WC on Pommel horse (PH), Rings (RI), Paralell 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 Science of Gymnastics Journal 252 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 when performing such complex exercises. According to the first FIG CoP 1964 to the present, the MAG and WAG has already gone through 14 versions or cycles CoP. Atikovic (2014) emphasizes that the changes in the regulation of men's and women's artistic gymnastics occur from one cycle to another by changes in evaluation of difficulty value (DV) from cycle to cycle: 1956-1976: A-C; 1979: A-Cr; 1985-1989: A-D; 1992: A-E, 1996-7: A-E, 2001: A-super E; 2006: male: A- F, female: A-G; 2009: A-G, 2013 male: A-G, female: A-H. Every element was awarded a specific difficulty rating, ranging from A (easiest) to I (hardest) in the table of elements. Gymnast earned bonus points by performing difficult skills alone or in combination (FIG, 2017a,b). The increased complexity of CoP, in terms of difficulty value and increased number of deductions, require gymnast's longer competitive internship, in order to be successful in the gymnastics community. Some gymnasts and gymnasts such as Oksana Chusovitina and Yordan Yovchev, succeeded the age of 40 to be ranked high in major competitions. Oksana Chusovitina competed at her seventh Olympics in year 2016, another record, at the age of 41. Bulgaria's Yordan Yovchev (39 years old) became the first male gymnast to ever compete in six OG. The aim of this research is to analyze different age aspects of male and female participants at the Olympic Games and World Championships from 2003 until 2016, and to determine the differences in the age structures between particular competitions and disciplines in male and female artistic gymnastics. The studies concerning different age aspects among elite athletes sports longevity in seniors gymnastics. METHODS All the participants in MAG are presented in the following competitions: WC2003, N=318; WC2005, N=177; WC2006, N=278; WC2007, N=253; WC2009, N=243; WC2010, N=299; WC2011, N=262; WC2013, N=261; WC2014, N=311; WC2015, N=276; and in WAG: WC2003, N=224; WC2005, N=95; WC2006, N=223; WC2007, N=214; WC2009, N=146; WC2010, N=218; WC2011, N=216; WC2013, N=134; WC2014, N=250; WC2015, N=261. The sample of the examinees also included all the participants in MAG in the following competitions: 0G2004, N=98; 0G2008, N=98; 0G2012, N=98; 0G2016, N=97; and in WAG: 0G2004, N=98; OG 2008, N=97; 0G2012, N=96; 0G2016, N=98. The total number of analyzed WC participants in MAG amounted to N=2678 and the WAG was N=1981; while at the OG with MAG N=391 and the WAG N=389. We have made historical analysis of the chronological age trend from the official book results of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) of all male and female participants in men's artistic gymnastics and women's artistic gymnastics for the period of 2003 to 2016. The intent was to collect current data of female and male gymnasts from recent years. All data for this study was obtained from the Longines ranking website and official websites of the OG results Longines Official Results Books 2003 -2016 http://www.longinestiming.com/#!/gymnas tics/ (Accessed 1 Sep 2016) & Official Website of the Olympic Games Results 2004-2016 https://www.olympic.org/olympic-results (Accessed 1 Sep 2016). These two web pages record all gymnastics results according to events, such as WC and OG. We started collecting data from the WC2003 and ended with the OG2016, because previous data was not available for analysis or it was not complete. The following variables were included: date of birth, qualification date of the OG, qualification date of the WC. Science of Gymnastics Journal 253 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 Data processing in this research and the application of the statistically mathematical procedures were conducted in the program package of Microsoft Office Excel 2013 and SPSS 23.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). For calculating the chronological age the following formulas from the Microsoft Office Excel 2013 package were used. For the total number of days of one's age since the date of birth until the first day of the competition qualifications: Calculation formula = DATEDIF (A1; B1; "d") (1) For the total number of years of one's age since the date of birth until the first day of the competition qualifications: Calculation formula = DATEDIF (days x 0.0027397260273973 years) (2) For the total number of years, months and days since the date of birth until the first day of the competition qualifications: Calculation formula = DATEDIF (A1; B1; "Y") & "years", &DATEDIF (A1; B1; "YM")&" months, "&DATEDIF (A1; B1; "MD") &" days" (3) Descriptive statistics for all variables were used. Linear regression methods and second-order polynomial equations were used to determine the best fit for the time series. Several time-series analysis methods were calculated and fitted to the historical data, along with the resulting regression equations and R2 values using Microsoft Excel 2013. The best model fit for the historical data was determined by the highest R2 value. An independent sample t test was calculated to determinate if whether there is a difference between the chronological age of the all participants of the Olympic Games 2004-2016 and World Championships 2003-2015. Differences in the mean values are treated as statistically significant when the calculated p value was lower than 0.05. RESULTS Table 1-2 shows the descriptive information about WC and OG, number of athletes, the year when the competition was held, median value, standard deviations, individually for each of the disciplines. The results in Table 4 of independent t test were significant; t test (592) = 4.17, p = .00, indicates that there are significant differences between MAG WC03 (22.94±3.42, n = 318) and the scores at the MAG WC15 (24.25±4.17, n = 276). The results in Table 4 of independent t test were significant; t test (483) = 7.92, p = .00, indicating that there are significant differences between WAG WC03 (17.49±2.32, n = 224) and the scores at the WAG WC15 (19.59±3.33, n = 261). The results in Table 4 of independent t test were significant, t test (194) = 3.91, p = .00, indicating that there are significant differences between WAG OG04 (18.73±2.85, n = 98) and the scores at the WAG OG16 (20.79±4.36, n = 98). The results in Table 4 of independent t test were significant, t test (130) = -2.68, p = .00, indicating that there are significant differences between WAG TEAM04 (18.33±2.50, n = 72) and the scores from WAG TEAM016 (19.70±3.34, n = 60). Science of Gymnastics Journal 254 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delas Kalinski S., Cuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 Table 1 Age (years) of the competitors (Mean ± SD) at the World Championships from 2003 to 2015. Men Year 2003 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014 2015 Events N 318 177 278 253 243 299 262 261 311 276 FX 22.68±3.35 22.61±3.46 22.81±3.80 23.26±4.00 22.63±3.13 23.12±4.06 23.73±3.91 22.93±3.57 22.90±3.35 23.89±3.93 PH 22.97±3.44 24.51±3.20 23.14±3.84 23.51±4.07 22.78±3.24 23.33±4.09 23.75±3.85 23.18±3.87 23.16±3.63 24.13±4.18 RI 22.93±3.43 23.62±3.85 23.07±3.96 23.63±3.99 22.93±3.63 23.44±4.17 23.89±4.05 22.79±3.69 23.05±3.42 23.86±4.03 VT 22.84±3.44 22.80±3.55 22.91±3.86 23.23±4.01 22.77±3.45 23.27±3.92 23.89±4.02 22.63±3.48 22.06±3.55 23.99±4.07 PB 22.92±3.42 23.56±3.78 22.95±3.92 23.69±4.16 22.84±3.47 23.37±4.23 23.81±4.02 23.06±3.97 23.04±3.57 24.03±4.13 HB 22.88±3.42 23.34±3.77 22.94±3.88 23.55±4.11 23.19±3.70 23.34±4.16 23.90±3.94 23.17±3.75 23.10±3.59 24.04±4.11 ALL MAG 22.94±3.42 23.63±3.69 22.99±3.94 23.51±4.16 23.30±3.67 23.54±4.19 23.95±3.99 23.82±3.89 23.23±3.67 24.25±4.17 N 224 95 223 214 146 218 216 134 250 261 VT 17.55±2.34 18.76±2.51 18.48±2.56 18.00±2.80 18.37±2.23 18.42±2.62 19.12±3.03 19.41±3.43 19.36±3.15 19.58±3.22 UB 17.57±2.37 18.67±2.61 18.50±2.53 17.90±2.73 18.57±2.42 18.38±2.37 18.96±2.78 19.23±2.93 19.29±3.07 19.66±3.35 BB 17.60±2.39 18.82±2.66 18.40±2.51 18.00±2.82 18.54±2.37 18.49±2.59 19.03±2.90 19.16±2.87 19.31±3.14 19.62±3.35 FX 17.52±2.35 18.78±2.30 18.40±2.52 17.93±2.88 18.44±2.28 18.23±2.29 19.03±2.90 19.09±2.80 19.08±2.96 19.54±3.31 ALL WAG 17.49±2.32 18.72±2.66 18.37±2.45 17.88±2.78 18.59±2.38 18.47±2.60 19.01±2.97 19.44±3.39 19.23±3.07 19.59±3.33 Women Abbreviations: N, Number of participants; M, Mean; SD, Standard deviation; FX, Floor; PH, Pommel horse; RI, Rings; VT, Vault; PB, Parallel bars; HB, High bar; UB, Uneven bars; BB, Balance beam; ALL MAG, All men competitors; ALL WAG, All female competitors. Science of Gymnastics Journal 255 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 Table 2 Age (years) of the competitors (Mean ± SD) at the Olympic Games from 2004 to 2016. Men Women Years 2004 2008 2012 2016 Events N 98 98 98 97 FX 24.13±3.17 24.39±3.1 24.32±3.70 24.58±3.62 PH 24.51±3.20 24.63±3.18 24.60±3.58 24.49±3.50 RI 24.59±3.21 24.57±3.36 24.56±4.00 24.51±3.44 VT 24.21±3.12 24.55±3.27 24.23±3.89 24.69±3.61 PB 24.44±3.22 25.05±3.50 24.70±3.83 24.51±3.42 HB 24.36±3.04 24.74±3.25 24.64±3.69 24.76±3.88 ALL MAG 24.61±3.25 25.06±3.49 24.97±4.09 25.24±3.87 N TEAM 72 72 60 60 TEAM 24.35±3.26 24.95±3.19 24.06±3.70 25.11±3.46 N 98 97 96 98 VT 18.61±2.80 18.98±3.05 20.41±3.75 20.41±4.12 UB 18.72±2.65 18.88±2.94 20.22±3.43 20.32±3.37 BB 18.59±2.54 18.89±3.25 20.31±3.59 20.92±4.46 FX 18.50±2.52 18.98±3.09 20.29±3.36 20.49±3.78 ALL WAG 18.73±2.85 19.01±3.03 20.43±3.65 20.79±4.36 N TEAM 72 72 60 60 TEAM 18.33±2.50 18.92±3.24 19.69±3.85 19.70±3.34 Abbreviations: N, Number of participants; N TEAM, Number of team participants; M, Mean; SD, Standard deviation; FX, Floor; PH, Pommel horse; RI, Rings; VT, Vault; PB, Parallel bars; HB, High bar; UB, Uneven bars; BB, Balance beam; ALL MAG, All men competitors; ALL WAG, All female competitors. Table 3 Linear and Second-Order Polynomial-Regression Equations for Individual Athlete Data on Each Variable With the World Championships and Olympic Games Year. Variable Age (yrs) Linear equation r2 Second-order polynomial equation r2 MAG 2003-2016 y=0.071x+23.402 0.146 y=0.0058x2-0.016x+23.634 0.158 WAG 2003-2016 y=0.1696x+17.715 0.628 y=0.0083x2-0.0449x+18.048 0.647 MAG OG 2004-2016 y=0.1386x+24.277 0.129 y=-0.1151x2-0.4371x+24.853 0.200 WAG OG 2004-2016 y=0.4872x+17.946 0.903 y=-0.1448x2-1.2114x+17.222 0.967 Abbreviations: MAG 2003-2016, Men's artistic gymnastics results; WAG 2003-2016, Women's artistic gymnastics results; MAG OG 2004-2016, Men's artistic gymnastics results Olympic Games; WAG OG 20042016, Women's artistic gymnastics results Olympic Games. Table 4 Independent t-test for Equality of Means. Event N Mean±SD N Mean±SD t df p MAG WC03-WC15 318 22.94±3.42 276 24.25±4.17 4.17 592 0.000* MAG 0G04-0G16 98 24.61±3.25 97 25.24±3.87 -1.23 193 0.218 WAG WC03-WC15 224 17.49±2.32 261 19.59±3.33 7.92 483 0.000* WAG 0G04-0G16 98 18.73±2.85 98 20.79±4.36 3.91 194 0.000* MAG TEAM04-16 72 24.35±3.26 60 25.11±3.46 -1.29 130 0.197 WAG TEAM04-16 72 18.33±2.50 60 19.70±3.34 -2.68 130 0.008* Abbreviations: N, Number of Participants; M, Mean; SD, Standard deviation; t = t test value, df = Degrees of Freedom, *p, indicates a statistically significant difference at p<0.05; MAG, men's artistic gymnastic; WAG, women's artistic gymnastics; WC, World Championship; OG, Olympic Games. Science of Gymnastics Journal 256 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 Figures 1 through 3 show the age of the competitors and teams (Mean ± SD) at the WC and OG 2003-2016. Figures 1 through 3 also show the linear fit curves. 25,50 ^24,00 a> 22,50 FX —PH RI VT PB HB ALL — -Linear (ALL) 402 R2 = 0,146 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 20 14 2015 2016 Years Abbreviations: p, statistically significant difference at p<0.05; FX, Floor; PH, Pommel horse; RI, Rings; VT, Vault; PB, Parallel bars; HB, High bar; ALL, All men competitors; ALL Linear, Linear regression. Figure 1. Trending ages of men's artistic gymnastics gymnasts from 2003 to 2016. 21,00 20,50 20,00 19,50 S 19,00 M 18,50 < 18,00 17,50 17,00 VT — UB - BB FX —ALL --Linear (ALL) p < 0.00 y = 0,1696x + 17,715 R2 = 0,62 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Years Abbreviations: p, statistically significant difference at p<0.05; VT, Vault; UB, Uneven bars; BB, Balance beam; FX, Floor; ALL, All women competitors; ALL Linear, Linear regression. Figure 2. Trending ages of women's artistic gymnastics gymnasts from 2003 to 2016. Science of Gymnastics Journal 257 Science of Gymnastics Journal Atikovic A., Delaš Kalinski S., Čuk I.: AGE TRENDS IN ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS ... Vol. 9 Issue 3: 251 - 263 26 25 24 ^23 cs n aj -—