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VaultPurple wrote:Is there a minimum age to qualify for different events at the World Championships or Olympics? I saw on his coach's YouTube page where Jacko Gill the 16 year old shot putter from New Zeland has reached the B standard when he threw 20.01m with the senior men's shot (World record for 16 and 17 year old along with NZ senior record). But they were told he was too young to compete in the shot at the world championships, but runners can be younger.

Lower ages limits
o Junior athletes (any athlete aged 18 or 19 years on 31 December 2011) may
compete in any event except the Marathon Races and the 50km Race Walk Men.
o Youth athletes (any athlete aged 16 or 17 years on 31 December 2011) may compete in any event except the Men’s Throws, Decathlon, 10,000m, Marathon
Races and Race Walks.
o Athletes younger than 16 years on 31 December 2011 CANNOT be entered in any
event.

VaultPurple wrote:Well now thats just dumb. I can understand them not wanting them to train too hard at a young age especially with the decathlon and maybe people trying to get kids in weight room too early for throws. But if that is what you are scared of then do not offer the sport at the world level to them at all. If they let them have a IAAF World Youth Champs, that means the kid is already training for the event, so what does it matter what meet they are competing in? It is not like anything in track is a contact sort where you have little kids getting beat up by grown men.. that is soccer, where kids turn pro at age 14 sometimes! I guess someone being 17 would give them an unfair advantage since he has not had to gain all that unnecessary muscle for throwing yet, lol.