By Chole voke
With the end of the Winter Olympics and our neighbors in Los Angeles preparing to host the Summer Olympics in 2028, we must take another look at how these athletes are treated, especially when many start as children. Most notable this year was Alysa Liu, who not only hails from UCLA but won gold in women’s figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Alysa, however, claims her victory was not only due to intense training, but also the break she took at 16. At just 13 years old, she became the youngest U.S. women’s national champion in figure skating in 2019. She competed in the Beijing Olympics at 16 and then left skating. She was burnt out and decided on early retirement for her mental and physical health. During that time away, she rediscovered her spark for skating and her love of the sport, rather than viewing it as a chore or a job. This intense happiness was visible on her face as she competed, and her relaxed posture was even cited as a factor that contributed to her win. The Olympic Committee admits there is no universal age limit for the Olympics and that they generally defer to the International Sports Federations to set those minimum ages. For example, the youngest competitor for Alpine skiing can be 17 and for gymnastics it’s 16. That is younger than some of the freshmen at Dana Hills, which, when I look around, do not seem ready for the Olympics. To top it off, many sports do not have a minimum age requirement at all, like skateboarder Zheng Haohao who competed in 2024 at age 11. That means a fifth grader had the eyes of the 84% of the world who watches the Games on them. That is an immense amount of pressure for someone so young. Pushing young athletes hard enough to qualify for the Olympics leads to reported higher rates of anxiety and burnout. Training at elite levels while bodies are still developing increases injuries by more than 50%. In the United States, around 3.5 million children under the age of 14 receive medical treatment for sports injuries every year. Not only are children pushed this hard more anxious, but they are also much more likely to be injured. Training for these sports is intense and time consuming. Many athletes put in more hours of training than a full-time job requires. Children at age 11 should not have full-time jobs that weigh on their mental and physical health. The Olympics are meant to represent the peak of athletic achievement, but they should also represent the best values of sport. Dedication and discipline are admirable, but they should not come at the cost of youth. Young athletes deserve time to grow, attend school, and develop identities outside of competition. When a child’s entire life revolves around training, the line between passion and pressure becomes blurred. Some organizations have already begun to recognize this issue. In figure skating, the International Skating Union recently voted to raise the minimum age for senior international competitions from 15 to 17. This change was made because of concerns about the physical and psychological toll on the younger competitors. Raising age limits is a step in the right direction, but stronger and more consistent protections should exist across all sports. The Olympics should celebrate human excellence, not childhood sacrifice. Alysa Liu’s story shows that success does not have to come from relentless pressure, but from passion, and genuine love for the sport. If the Olympic movement truly wants to inspire the world, it must ensure that its youngest athletes are protected and allowed to be kids first and competitors second.