Originally Posted by
Stavros
Good question. If someone can leave school and start work at 16, and legally get married, should 16 be the minimum age? Voting for 16 year olds is also on the agenda in some countries. I think somewhere between 16-18 even though at that age some are more mature than others, and the pressures of 'the team' can affect people's behaviour who are much older. I don't know what the answer is, but I do wonder if the Olympics cares as much about the welfare of athletes as it claims to. At the very least, I think a debate needs to be had.
I think Tennis is the other sport which allows teenagers as young as 16 to compete against adults, and there have been 17-year old footballers in the Premier League in the UK (Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney come to mind).