re: Why is Haleigh Bryant not on the U.S. Olympic team?

quote:

---

quote:

---

he difference between college gymnastics and Olympic is the difference between AA baseball and the Major Leagues.

---

Bad comparison. Not for the top collegiate gymnast.

I mean there are currently Olympic gymnasts competing in college. No major league players are dropping down to AA and not even being the best person on their team.

---

It's actually a fair comparison as far as level of difficulty goes, once you factor in the other variables.

Some of the harder skills are easier to perform with a 15 yr old body than a 20 yr old body. Your point of balance can change depending on development. You lose your maximum potential flexibility at some point.

So, age-related changes, if a big leaguer wanted to keep playing baseball for the sake of it, and just couldn't see or catch up to MLB fastballs anymore, he could go down into AA level. At that point in his career he may not be the best on that team, either. That just happens in a much tighter age range in gymnastics, because baseball emphasizes different physical characteristics.

Since gymnastics isn't about the money to the extent baseball (or other huge spectator sports) is, someone continuing to compete just due to love of the sport is more common. We're not going to see MLB All-Stars hang around in the minors after their prime. It's maybe more similar to Senior Golf, where you could see former elites still playing well after they peaked and declined.
It's just that gymnastics is weird, because the age range is so low. We don't tend to think of college as "senior citizens", but that's what it is for most gymnasts.