What should happen to the Age Eligibility Rules

[Macassar88]

I think they're good because i don't want to see a bunch of 14 year old jumping beans who mostly lack artistry winning worlds all the time in ladies.. it's boring.

At the same time, if Program Component scores were actually judged right, we wouldn't have to worry about little jumping beans winning worlds with terrible artistry.
Anyway, there have been a lot of successful older skaters who beat their younger contemporaries. (Butyrskaya ring a bell?)

[Macassar88]

Or get rid of the age rule, but have two categories: Women and Girls. The pixies can do all the jumps they want, but can't compete against those who have hit puberty. This is pretty much the idea behind World Juniors, but there's no Olympic equivalent. The age rule shows who has the true talent, skill and motivation, and isn't just benefitting from being born a midget and not having grown out of it yet. You see who has true talent after they have grown. Michelle, Alissa. As someone commented on that link, if the USFS really cared about "growing bodies" then they'd make the age limit in the U.S. as well; but I understand why they don't because they want to keep their field very deep.

So does that mean that it isn't fair for someone who is naturally very short to compete because that is just how their body works? There are people who are very short after puberty.

[NorthernDancers]

Interesting thread. Although this seems to be primarily focused on singles, I think the rules for pairs and dance need to change, too.

In Canada, at least, pair teams can compete domestically at Junior, even though one or both partners are past the age criteria for international assignments. This makes sense, since sometimes it takes awhile for physical maturity and solid partnerships to develop. I just think it would be nice if the rules were relaxed a bit to allow some of these teams to compete internationally at Junior as well. If they are not really ready for Senior, and Junior is where they belong, what's the harm? And there should be some discretion on the bottom age limit as well. If a girl happens to be a year or two too young to skate at Junior (or even Senior), if the team can meet some minimum criteria and be competitive at Junior (or Senior), why not let them compete internationally as Juniors (or Seniors)?

With dance, I think the ages should be set at 21 for both boys and girls. Lowering the age to 19 for both doesn't make sense because some boys are still growing and physically maturing at 19. By setting the age limits at 21 for both, it would open up more possibilities for teams who are the same age or even where the girl might be a little older than the guy, to develop and grow at Junior instead of having to move up because she has aged out at 19, or worse, breaking up a potentially promising team.