After Team USA men's won its first Olympic medal since 2008 on Monday, spectators noticed the average height of competitors and they went to Google and asked, "why are gymnasts so short?"
Asher Hong is 5'1", according to Stanford, where he's an NCAA team and vault champion. He's the shortest member on the team and he performed one of the hardest vaults in the world on Monday, which helped lead the men to bronze.
Commentators called the vault, which featured two flips and a full twist wrapped in, "death-defying." It's his height that contributes to talent, he says.
"Because I'm a lot shorter of a gymnast, it helps me move around a lot better - especially vault," Hong told NBC before the Paris Olympics.
Gymnastics G.O.A.T. Simone Biles stands at just 4'8", according to Team USA. She's considered one of the shorter female gymnasts.
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It's mostly a matter of biomechanics.
More gymnastics from Paris Olympics
Taller athletes typically have longer limbs, and it's their limbs (which include bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles) that act as levers that perform movements. Simply put, they're at a mechanical disadvantage compared to shorter athletes who may be able to produce more force, which in turn produces more torque --- a perpendicular force that sends gymnasts in rotation.
It doesn't mean taller people can't be great gymnasts. They just might have to work a little bit harder.
Another reason that observers may think gymnasts are short is because of their intense training, that intense physical activity stunts children's growth. However, experts say it hasn't been scientifically proven to be true.
"It has not been possible thus far to establish cause–effect relationships between training and the growth and maturation of young artistic gymnasts, the authors of a published Sports Med study wrote in 2013. The study, and other similar research, acknowledge that there are limitations in the data to make definitive conclusions.
What appears to be clear when it comes to children and resistance training is that it's good for their brains. In a 2023 Sports Med meta-analysis, a systemic review looking at dozens of different scientific studies, researchers found that school-aged youth who participate in resistance training have improved cognitive function, academic performance and on-task behaviors.
So, the egg appears to come before the chicken when talking about why gymnasts are so short.
The egg is genetics. The chicken is years of training.
