In my experience 12 year olds are pretty impervious to temperature fluctuations. Little bastards dive into freezing water like it’s nothing and run around in the scorching sun, not even noticing that they sweat through all their clothes.
When my toddler was much younger, they would take a bath in warm water, then get out in my well air conditioned house, shivering violently and happily declining any attempt to warm them up. We would always end up warming them up in the end, of course.
Nowadays they're a bit older and will seek out the biggest pile of blankets they can find at any opportunity.
Tell that to the 12 year old gymnastics competitors I ran into once outside a venue when it was 40 degrees out. They have a very low body fat percentage.
That's a sport that should probably die off, at least in anything like its current form, along with American Football.
Broadly, yes. They're 12 year olds being pushed into unsafe diet and exercise plans, often with very high pressure coming from parents and coaches. The Olympic committee was right to raise the minimum competition age over the last few decades, but this shit still happens.
being pushed into unsafe diet and exercise plans, often with very high pressure coming from parents and coaches
That's true of any sport? I agree that sports should be more fun and less competitive, at least for children, but why single out gymnastics? At least there's no contact like in wrestling or even football.