All Genders Going for the Gold

The current competition state of Olympic Gymnastics is a large divide between the men’s version of the sport and the women’s version of the sport. They have different skills, events, and rules, yet there is still overlap. This separation of the sport was created under the idea that women could never compete against a male and win because of biological make up. The separate genders give the women a fair opportunity to compete against their own kind, and same for the men.

The divide of genders has been a stereotype that has circled the world since the beginning of time. The Olympics have been something we view every four years, and we are just beginning to see development in inclusion. Time and time again we see men competing against men and women against women, but there has never been any crossover between genders. The only adjustment has been the allowance of transgenders being allowed to compete, if a man transitioned to a woman they were allowed to compete as a woman. Yet controversy still exists of allowing this to happen. The Olympics have never had the crossover of genders in competition due to fairness, but in our world we are searching and striving for equality. How can one define what fairness is? What someone’s fair could be polar opposite to someone else. To be considered fair everyone is given the same opportunity, and will react to the best of their abilities. It is not made easier for one group and harder for another. In the Olympics if it was competed with fairness and everyone had the exact same opportunities, we would see true results as who the elite athlete of that sport is. 

We have men and women gymnasts to entertain us on all televisions all summer. Switching channels to flip flop between men and women’s gymnasts, with different skills and different events, but still both considered gymnastics. Stereotypically men have said to be at an advantage in sports due to their biological make up. In the journal Classification in Sport: A Question of Fairness it explains the origin of the Olympics and how it started as only free Greek men being eligible to compete in the games. The journal mentions “early twentieth-century sport was primarily a young men’s world.” Olympics were seen as only capable by men, that no women would be competitive enough to showcase their athletic abilities. As females were added to the equation in the 1900’s they were in their own category, with easier events. As years progressed women have excelled in sports, especially in the Olympics. They have dismantled the stereotype that sports are a man world, and have no place for women. 

Women still face major equality issues in sports. In The Sports Journal by Joshua A. Senne states “a common women face in the media is gender marking, which represents male athletes and men’s sports as being the norm, and women’s sports as “other.” Yet women have set many world and Olympic records and obtained many gold medals. It is irrational to think men and women can not be in the same competition in the battle for the gold. Creating this sense of equal opportunity and fairness does not go for just gymnastics, but all the sports in winter and summer Olympics. By adjusting all the sports to the same rules and regulations, all genders compete in a larger competition, to see who is the best. Also in team sports, or relays can be made up of equal men and women and participate against other countries of the same team. Gender and biological make up have little to no advantage. 

The Olympic Games started as only men going head to head, and women are now going head to head. As the LGBTQ+ community has been approved of many freedoms, transgenders have been able to play in Olympic Games as their newly assigned gender. There has been numerous controversies regarding this new decision that transgenders have an unfair advantage and should not be allowed to compete. 

Previously transgenders have had to go through extensive examinations in order to be eligible to compete in any Olympic sport. In and article by NBC News titled “International Olympic Committee Issues New Guidelines on Transgender Atheltes” discusses the elimation of making transgender go through hormone level modicaitioncs to compete. As these athletes were considered unfair they previously had to make adjustments to their hormone levels which is can be considered unethical, and thankfully has now been changed. Instead of changing the regulations and rules of the sport to make it unfair they were attempting to change the athletes themselves, to make them more fair. When the whole point of competition is to see who is the superior athlete.

Statistics and comparison of before and after transition have shown the advantages they had. In the New York Post article titled “Trans Women Athletes Have Unfair Advantages Over Those Born Female: Testosterone” shares 43 year old Olympic weightlifter Laurel Hubbards’ story how has a male set junior records in competition, but as a female won two gold medals and now is ranked 15th in the world. She automatically became one of the best female weightlifters because she had the physical make of a man. It is said her achievements are unfair to the other athletes. Males and females differ in hormones, strength, speed, power, and stamina. So a transgender women will still have the physical aspects and make of as a male, making their athletic advantage unfair when competing with females. 

With the controversy faced with allowing transgender there is still hope for inclusion. Even though their biological makeup still resides in their transition bodies they do not have to quit playing sports all together because they are unable to play with the new gender they are assigned as. Along with athletes who identify as nonbinary have no category to compete where they can feel accepted. If gender titles were excluded all together they are able to participate. 

Sports were made to have different genders and rules for those genders to make it fair for the game. In the Olympic gymnastics the division of male and female events brings out the advantages of female bodies and male bodies. For female gymnasts they are highlighting their ability to balance on a four inch balance beam and how agile they can be. For male gymnasts the goal is to show their power and upper body strength for example on the rings. There is no crossover of these events because men do have the body makeup to balance on a beam, and women can not use the extreme upper body strength needed for the rings. 

By eliminating gender divisions in Olympic Gymnastics allows for more events and more competitors. Gender will no longer remain a title of unfairness. In this scenario Olympic gymnasts of any gender will be eligible to compete in all events, whether or not they were previously of only a specific gender. For example women being eligible to compete on the pommel horse, and men eligible to compete on the balance beam. This also opens the doors for transgenders who have the skill set to compete without considering their biological make up as an advantage or disadvantage. 

In this evolved sport of Olympic Gymnastics events may have to be alerted to be inclusive for all, and have ranges of adjustments for different competitors. As women’s and men’s gymnastics have different events there are crossovers. But in the end the events would consist of: floor exercise, uneven bars, vault, balance beam, parallel bars, pommel horse, high bar, and rings. The events such as uneven bars, vault, and parallel bars would be able to be adjusted by the gymnast to their preferred height, as regulation calls for now in the Rules and Policies for 2020-2021. The remaining events already have set requirements that are fair to all competitors. The floor, pommel horse, high bar, rings, and balance beam are all the same size.

As we watch men’s gymnastics their events consist of: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault and parallel bars. While in women’s gymnastics their events are: floor exercise, uneven bars, balance beam, and vault. This is for highlighting different capabilities of the gender, the women’s ability to balance on a four inch wide beam, and for men using extreme upper body strength to complete routines on the still rings. Both male and female gymnasts compete vault, floor exercise, and bars, so they already share the same skill set. It is considered unfair because of stereotypes that the men would beat the women by a landslide. But both genders are given the same circumstances and opportunity and both genders are athletic and strong. It can not be said that the men would win every time. In the article “Why Men and Women Gymnasts Have Different Events”the idea arose that women are capable of matching the upper lower and body strength of a man. In order to compete as one, women and men would have to strive to have the same muscular strength, skill set, coordination, balance, and stamina. But surprisingly enough they already have these assets, now they just need to be combined into one.

Women’s sports can be justified by biology. In The Washington Post Titled “The Key Question Raised By Lia Thomas’s Swimming Success: What is The Purpose of Women’s Sports?” Discusses how women’s sports were only created to benefit them and delete the unfairness that different biological make ups have in the sports world. They have been made in an attempt to benefit the women when in reality are only holding them back from real competition. It was stated in The Washington Post that “A woman is not a disadvantaged man.” A woman is their own unique and strong athlete with their own strengths and weaknesses. As a man has different strengths and weaknesses. Biology can also be considered unfair within women’s gymnastics. Some of the competitors were born with more athletic ability, or coordination than other women. Biology and gender will always be labeled as unfair so if we eliminate those titles all together we can eliminate the unfairness of competition that goes along with it. 

Gender norms also play a large role in the separation of these two sports. In a Bustle article titled “Why Men and Women Gymnasts Have Different Events” they discuss the different events and why women will most likely never compete in that certain event. For example they mention how women use floor music and dance within their floor exercise routines while men will only tumble. In the article it stated that “The gymnastics events for men and women are likely different due to the fact that men generally have greater upper body strength than women, with a strong splash of gender norms on top of it.” As their bodies have different makeups the events are created to showcase their athleticism. So if a transgender gymnast was to compete as male and preform on the rings or pommel horse they would have difficulty scoring better than the other males because even though they are a male they can not achieve the upper body strength that a biological male has. 

Within this open gender competition we are eliminating gender as an unfair quality, but not biology. In order to tend to that unfairness by distinguishing categories by size and weight. Men and women in the same range of height and weight will compete in all events together. With those classes of height and weight biological advantages will be eliminated because there will be no situation where a taller gymnast is at the disadvantage of a smaller gymnast, because they will not be in the same category. Smaller Men and larger women may find themselves in categories that are heavy in the opposite gender. But the regulations and rules of the event settings will allow for fair competition among the athletes. By simple judging based on these categories of height and weight we as spectators will have a more interesting time viewing the competitions. By seeing the difference between the larger male and female gymnasts versus the smaller male and female gymnasts. The difficulty of skills and the execution will differ based on their height and weight. 

Gymnasts can compete on the same events since there is already cross over of two events: floor exercise and vault. As for the other male events and female events there are adjustments which can be made for either gender to still compete. If gender titles were completely demolished in the olympics categories that are inclusive no matter the gender can take the place. This being weight and height classes. Gymnasts can be of any shape and size and able to compete and completely ignore whatever gender they assign themselves as.

With the division of classes by height and weight competitions of the relatively same structure and stature will be in the same group competing. In Men’s Journal an article titled “Why the 2016 Rio Olympic Gymnasts’ Bodies Are So Much More Muscular” Jake Dalton a well known male Olympic gymnast states “In gymnastics, you are using so many different muscle groups at once to help yourself through, and I think that’s where the weight training has helped me to isolate specific muscles that were weak before.” This as well applies to women gymnasts as they too are being introduced into weight training to improve their strength and have looked a lot more muscular during the Olympic Games. As everyone has begun intensive weight training they have all gained the strength and stamina to compete in all different types of events. 

In The Bustle article “Why Men and WOmen Gymnasts Have Different Events’’ they include that “female gymnasts probably [are] plenty capable of matching upper and lower body strength, and with the loosening of gender norms.” Female olympians have been shown competing skills of the same nature as male gymnasts, on the bars or even floor exercise. As their strength increases the skills they perform increase with difficulty. Consider 25 year old Olympian Simone Biles. Who has won 32 Olympic and world championship medals she is one of the best of all time, and trains to the extremes. Who is such a strong athlete she has three separate skills on vault, balance beam, and floor exercise named after her because she is the first gymnast to successfully perform these skills. She and many Olympians have shown that over time the training has become more intense making them stronger. They have proven time and time again that they too are athletes of great skill. 

The door will be opened for new competitors. Including transgender gymansts who have yet to been seen in the gymnastic Olympic Games. And athletes of gender orientation will be eligible.Those who were before labeled as an unfair participant are no longer considered unfair. As gender is eliminated Olympic teams will be able to be coed. The Washington Post Titled “The Key Question Raised By Lia Thomas’s Swimming Success: What is The Purpose of Women’s Sports?”  Stated “ winning isn’t the only purpose of sport; it also teaches teamwork, self discipline and important social values such as inclusion.” By opening up inclusion and making gymnastics able to compete individually or within a coed team brings more fairness to the sport. Coed teams will be competed in an even amount of men to women. For example a team will compete with three men and three women to be eligible. If a team had more men to women or more women to men it could be considered an advantage or disadvantage.

If the competition of Olympic gymnastics evolved into a singular sport there would be fairness, but all competing the same events with a mix of events from women’s and men’s gymnast origins. By creating a crossover every male and women would have the same opportunity to perform skills to the best of their ability. As stated in the journal Classification in Sport: A Question of Fairness “athletes and teams are measured, compared, and ranked according to capabilities and skills that the outcomes of their own talents and efforts.” When gymnasts are judged there is no bias on who the judges favor, it is who performs the best routine with the least amount of errors. As this is true men and women should be able to compete together and be judged the same way, with no bias to their gender. Rules in gymnastics are forever changed, regarding skills that are allowed and which ones are band, scores, and more. Why can not rules of who is eligible to compete be adjusted as well, opening up to men competing women events and vice versa, along with transgenders having the opportunity to compete in gymnastics. 

As for the demolishing of gender titles in Olympic gymnasts all gymnasts no matter the gender will benefit from this change. Everyone will be able to compete more events that they have never tried before, and shape them into even better athletes. Also competition will become more fair as they will be around gymnasts of their size, with the same strength and athletic ability as them. 

By settling certain labels and stereotypes we define as unfair, and creating more similarity within the sport of gymnastics, we can eliminate unfairness and have true competition. By changing the way the sport is competed and not those competing it opens doors for more intense competition and enjoyment for athletes, judges, and spectators. Gender and biology will be eliminated from the Olympics all together and no longer used in situations as to something being biased or unfair. 

Society focuses a great deal on the difference between men and women, comparing hormone levels, and structure. If all gender structures were dropped we could strictly focus on the ability of the athletes. Fairness of equal competition between athletes will show this. By being open minded to new rules and regulation and creating a new form of competition we will be rewarded with true sports and see their athleticism. Fairness is treating all of the athletes alike, as strong, power competitive humans and being blind to their gender.

References 

“Why Are Men’s & Women’s Gymnastics Events Different? Look to the Skills They Emphasize.” LaTour, Amée. Bustle, Bustle, 10 Aug. 2016. 

 “Why the 2016 Rio Olympic Gymnasts’ Bodies Are So Much More Muscular” Evolution of a sport. Men’s Journal. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2022, 

“Trans Women Athletes Have Unfair Advantages Over Those Born Female: Testosterone”  Spitznagel, E. (2021, July 22). Trans women athletes have unfair advantage over those born female: Testosterone. New York Post. April 19, 2022, 

2020 – 2021 women’s program rules and policies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2022, from 

McArdle, M. (2022, March 23). Opinion | The key question raised by Lia Thomas’s swimming success: What is the purpose of Women’s sports? The Washington Post. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from 

NBCUniversal News Group. (2021, November 17). International Olympic Committee issues new guidelines on transgender athletes. NBCNews.com. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from 

 “Classification in Sport: A Question of Fairness” Loland, Sigmund. European Journal of Sport Science, vol. 21, no. 11, 2021, pp. 1477–1484.

“Examination of Gender Equity and Female Participation in Sport.” The Sport Journal, 29 Feb. 2016.