The average height of a female gymnast is around 4 feet 11 inches. Male gymnasts average around 5 feet five. The average heights of women and men in the Canada are 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 9 inches.
While at the gymnastics championships on Thursday and today, it became very apparent how much shorter they are than myself, or Paul especially. Certain articles I found on the web refer to the rigors that their bodies go through pre-puberty. They suggest that growth may be stunted due do it. A competitive gymnast will spend a minimum of three hours, five days per week training. I'm not surprised then, that their bodies may be different than the average human because of it. Just think of all the strain they put on their bones and muscles.
Now this isn't to say that there aren't any tall gymnasts out there. Svetlana Khorkina (you may have heard of her if you're into watching Olympic gymnastics) is 5 feet 5 inches. She is the tallest female Olympic gymnast to date, and she's still five inches shorter than me! I remember watching her on television in 1996 and thinking how tall she was, but average-sized people weren't standing next to her or her teammates!
I think it would be fun to put a spawn of Nairn into gymnastics, but they'd be completely screwed due to both Paul and I being tall. Guess there's always soccer and baseball!
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