The Olympics wows people all over the world, the Games are a major international sporting event where athletes from around the globe compete in a wide range of sports representing their countries. The Games are held every two years alternating between the Summer and Winter Olympics. featuring events from track and swimming to skiing and figure skating. Ranging from Athletes as young as eleven all the way up to seventy.
There are a tons of young kids who have caught the attention of audiences’ throughout the years. Going against athletes that can be 10 years older then them, with so much bravery. A chemistry teacher at Worthington Kilbourne and an audience member of the Olympics Grace Larson shared her thoughts when being asked if she thought the age difference was fair: “Honestly, the youngest Olympians tend to do the best- pretty cool!” This has been on the radar of audiences’ because these are some of the best athletes in the world, but does anyone think this is unsafe? Concerns under various social media profiles are being left unanswered, keeping the viewers wondering.
Adzo Kpossi now, twenty-six years old but competed in her first Olympic games at thirteen in two-thousand and twelve, she was the youngest in the Olympic games that year. She later competed in the two-thousand and sixteen Olympics. She specializes in swimming, and competed in the women’s 50m freestyle. Comments with viewers asking if these athletes are being left in the Olympic village with their team, or being chaperoned are unanswered. One view commenting on various YouTube videos on the Olympics Youtube page says “With competitors aged 11 and 12, do they stay in the Olympic village with their teams or are they chaperoned by their parents?” All of these comments were left unanswered.
This year, the youngest Olympian in the twenty-twenty-six Olympics was Abby Winterberger. She is fifteen years old, on team USA, competing in the women’s freeski halfpipe. “Abby Winterberger, fifteen. Years. Old. Yes one, five. Fighting to be in the finals of the olympic games.” Says reporter for NBC. Comments about Abby online have been ranging from, “Shes too young to have a drivers license” to “Glad her parents are in the crowd for support”. Larson continues to say “I am always so shocked to hear how young some of the athletes are. I think it is okay to allow them to compete, but I think they should have to have a lot of support. I can’t imagine the pressure some of the athletes feel, and without the right family, friends, and professionals to help them, I think it could be dangerous for their mental health and their future.”
How young these athletes are is impressive, but can always be concerning. Viewers have expressed that online and not much of a response has come from these athletes or the Olympics. Romanticizing competing at a young age to other children with no further information. It really does take a village to sport a kid like this, trying to compete in such a challenging game both mentally and physically. “I don’t know enough about this to give a very confident answer- but I feel that without the right people guiding them and supporting them, they certainly could be in a very unsafe position.” says Mrs Larson.
