1. years), who were training between 29 and 36 hours (mean (SD) 33.3 (2.4)) a week, and 40 “subelite” gymnasts (mean (SD) age 14.4 (1.6) years), who were training between 4 and 25 hours (mean (SD) 16.8 (4.5)) a week. The elite gymnasts, subjects who had been identified by the Australian Gymnastic Federation as potential candidates for the national team, in particular, the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, were training at “high performance training centres” set up by the state sports institutes and Australian Gymnastic Federation at several locations around the country. Most gymnasts in this group had high national rankings and included members of national teams. The subelite gymnasts were those who were competing at a state and national championship level, but in a stream that excluded the elite gymnasts. Participants in this study were drawn from 17 training centres (seven elite and 10 subelite, and involving 23 coaches) spread through five mainland states and one territory of Australia