Reasons for early withdrawal of Japanese top youth gymnasts

Abstract

Youth athletes who aim to become top athletes perform a variety of training to improve their competitiveness. As a process of becoming a specialist, it is said that it takes 10,000 hours or 10 years to become an excellent athlete who will be able to play an active role in international competitions and rank at the top level in national competitions from adolescence. In addition, depending on the sport, it is necessary to start at a young age, and one of the sports that specializes in the early recruitment of athletes is the field of gymnastics competition. In recent years, the lives and training activities of particularly promising young gymnasts have been featured from childhood in the news and in special programs. On the other hand, the reason why a top gymnast who quit sports activities for some reason during their youth have not been published. Therefore in this study, we conducted retrospective interviews of gymnasts, and clarified not only their competitive life but also the relationship between the gymnasts and their coaches. While several coaching behaviors were evident, several athletes were subjected to “direct intimidation” or a “indirect intimidation” type of power harassment by their coaches. Behavioral restraint by their coaches was common to all athletes. There was undoubtedly conflict in the relationship between the youth top gymnasts and their coaches in gymnastics disciplines, and while future technological innovations will inevitably lead to early acquisition of advanced skills, sports should not make athletes unhappy.