In 1994, the International Gymnastics Federation passed what some critics had demanded for years: a minimum age of sixteen for international competition, set to take effect in 1997. The rule promised to protect children from the extreme physical demands of elite gymnastics. But when French journalist Richard Montaignac sat down with Michel Léglise, chairman of FIG’s Medical Commission, he discovered something unsettling. The official charged with safeguarding athletes’ health admitted he didn’t actually care whether national federations falsified their gymnasts’ ages. “I don’t care at all,” Léglise declared. “It makes absolutely no difference to me.”
Léglise’s views didn’t necessarily reflect every FIG official’s position. Surely, some genuinely supported meaningful enforcement. That said, the organization often responded with institutional shrugs when confronted with evidence of age falsification.
Here’s a translation of Léglise’s remarks as they appeared in Sovetsky Sport.
Michel Léglise: “Let Them Falsify by the Dozen, for All I Care”
An event that had been talked about for years has finally taken place. From now on, not only at the Olympic Games but at all international competitions, a lower age limit will apply to women gymnasts. In short, national federations will no longer be allowed to enter gymnasts under the age of sixteen in senior competitions.
On this occasion, French journalist Richard Montaignac spoke with Michel Léglise, chairman of the Medical Commission of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
— Why do you believe that sixteen is the optimal age for gymnasts?
— Because it is precisely by the age of sixteen that a girl’s morphological development is complete.
— Then why did some countries vote against this decision?
— You mean the African and Latin American countries, and Cuba? The fact is that girls there mature much earlier. By sixteen, they are already women, physiologically speaking. And of course, at that age, modern gymnastics becomes very demanding. That is why they insist on allowing participation starting from twelve.
— How do you explain the enthusiastic reaction of the United States’ representatives?
— It’s very simple. When sponsors see very young children on screen, they are not interested. But when a young woman comes out—beautiful, and capable of performing difficult elements—the stakes rise immediately. Money starts flowing. That is precisely why the Americans voted not with one hand, but with both.
— Will the official decision of the international federation prevent the falsification of gymnasts’ birthdates in passports?
— Who told you that? As a matter of fact, we have been able to prove only one such case—an athlete from North Korea. That was at the World Championships in Indianapolis. As you may recall, the little Kim was immediately disqualified not only from the championship but also from the Olympic Games in Barcelona. As for claims that other national federations engage in dishonest practices, we have no grounds to make such accusations.
— And can you be sure that such cases will not happen again?
— To be honest, I don’t care at all whether documents are falsified or not in national teams. It makes absolutely no difference to me. In the end, this is a matter of conscience for those responsible for gymnastics in their respective countries—a matter of how they treat their own citizens. If they are not concerned that a child’s skeleton is still soft (unlike an adult’s), that it is easy to break a girl both literally and figuratively, that the consequences for her health will be severe and unavoidable—then why should I be the one worrying about their gymnasts?
Based on materials from “L’Équipe.”
Natalia Kalugina.
– Sovetsky Sport, no. 112, July 16, 1994
Notes
- I do not have access to the original French article; this reflects how the interview was interpreted and translated into Russian in 1994. Should I ever access the archives of L’Équipe, I will update this page.
- The article mischaracterizes what happened with Kim Gwang Suk. The North Korean federation submitted three different birth years: October 15, 1974 (1989 Worlds), February 15, 1975 (1991 Worlds), and February 15, 1976 (1992 Olympics). In 1993, after concluding that the North Korean federation had falsified Kim’s age, the FIG Executive Committee issued a sweeping sanction: Kim was suspended, the entire PRK women’s team was removed from the World Championships, and the federation was banned from international competition for a year.
- The range for menarche (a girl’s first menstrual period) is broad, as it is influenced by a combination of genetics, nutrition, BMI, and environmental factors.
- When Léglise spoke of a girl’s “morphological development” being complete by age sixteen, he was using a shorthand that does not reflect how human growth actually works. Physical development does not finish all at once. Some parts of the skeleton may stop growing by the mid-teens, but others continue to mature later, and overall bone strength keeps increasing well beyond sixteen. In fact, many aspects of the female body—including bone density and musculoskeletal strength—continue developing into the late teens and early twenties. Sixteen is therefore not a clear biological endpoint for physical maturity.
- Claims that girls in Africa, Latin America, or Cuba “mature much earlier” are similarly oversimplified. While average ages at puberty can vary between populations, these are statistical differences, not sharp biological cutoffs. Reaching puberty or beginning menstruation does not mean the body has finished developing. Growth and physical strengthening continue for years afterward, regardless of geography.
References
On asynchronous development and continued maturation beyond age 16:
- Malina, R. M., Bouchard, C., & Bar-Or, O.Growth, Maturation, and Physical Activity. 2nd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2004.
- Tanner, J. M.Growth at Adolescence. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific, 1962.
On bone mineral accrual continuing after mid-adolescence:
- Bailey, D. A., McKay, H. A., Mirwald, R. L., Crocker, P. R., & Faulkner, R. A. “A six-year longitudinal study of the relationship of physical activity to bone mineral accrual in growing children: the University of Saskatchewan bone mineral accrual study.” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 14, no. 10 (1999): 1672–1679.
- Bailey, D. A., Martin, A. D., McKay, H. A., Whiting, S., & Mirwald, R. “Calcium accretion in girls and boys during puberty: a longitudinal analysis.” Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 15, no. 11 (2000): 2245–2250.
On peak bone mass achievement in early adulthood:
- Bonjour, J. P., Theintz, G., Law, F., Slosman, D., & Rizzoli, R. “Peak bone mass.” Osteoporosis International 4, Suppl 1 (1994): 7–13.
- Heaney, R. P., Abrams, S., Dawson-Hughes, B., Looker, A., Marcus, R., Matkovic, V., & Weaver, C. “Peak bone mass.” Osteoporosis International 11, no. 12 (2000): 985–1009.
On skeletal maturation variability and age estimation:
- Schmeling, A., Grundmann, C., Fuhrmann, A., Kaatsch, H. J., Knell, B., Ramsthaler, F., Reisinger, W., Riepert, T., Ritz-Timme, S., Rösing, F. W., Rötzscher, K., & Geserick, G. “Criteria for age estimation in living individuals.” International Journal of Legal Medicine 122, no. 6 (2008): 457–460.
On population differences in pubertal timing (without categorical claims):
- Anderson, S. E., & Must, A. “Interpreting the continued decline in the average age at menarche: results from two nationally representative surveys of U.S. girls studied 10 years apart.” The Journal of Pediatrics 147, no. 6 (2005): 753–760.
- Parent, A.-S., Teilmann, G., Juul, A., Skakkebaek, N. E., Toppari, J., & Bourguignon, J.-P. “The timing of normal puberty and the age limits of sexual precocity: variations around the world, secular trends, and changes after migration.” Endocrine Reviews 24, no. 5 (2003): 668–693.
On global norms for age at menarche:
- Chumlea, W. C., Schubert, C. M., Roche, A. F., Kulin, H. E., Lee, P. A., Himes, J. H., & Sun, S. S. “Age at menarche and racial comparisons in US girls.” Pediatrics 111, no. 1 (2003): 110–113.
- McDowell, M. A., Brody, D. J., & Hughes, J. P. “Has age at menarche changed? Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004.” Journal of Adolescent Health 40, no. 3 (2007): 227–231.
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