evidence: By the late 1950s, the first innovative coaches had made the pivot to recruiting and training girls under the age of ten. Today that trend is the norm, but it isn’t often realized just how early in WAG history it had actually been adopted. In the early to mid 1960s the first generation of gymnasts who had been trained in this fashion came of age. Almost immediately, they started having success. The same month Latynina celebrated her 30th birthday she famously lost to a 15 year old by the name of Larissa Petrik in 1964.