The likelihood of the RAE increases from childhood into adolescence but tends to diminish at the senior level [2]. The RAE has also been observed in international athletic populations, varying by geographical origin [5], and it plays a substantial role in talent selection processes [6]. Moreover, the RAE can significantly influence athletic performance in certain sports [7]. Over the past few decades, the relative age effect (RAE) has been extensively studied and confirmed across a wide range of competitive sports [2,8]. Evidence of the RAE has been observed in both team sports--such as soccer [9], basketball [10], handball [11], and volleyball [12]--and individual sports, including swimming [13], wrestling [14], judo [15], tennis [16], track and field [17], and alpine skiing [7]. However, most of the existing research has focused primarily on male athletes [2]. Studies have also highlighted notable gender differences in the manifestation of the RAE [18], indicating that findings based on male populations cannot be directly applied to female athletes [10]. A meta-analysis encompassing 25 sports found that while the RAE does have a significant impact on female sports participation, its effect size is generally small to moderate. The strength of the RAE was shown to vary according to age group, competitive level, and the specific sporting context. Notably, the effect was most pronounced in pre-adolescent athletes (aged 11 and under) and adolescents (aged 12-14), decreased during late adolescence (15-19 years), and was largely absent in adults (over 19 years) [19]. Some researchers argue that esthetic sports rely more heavily on technical skill than on physical maturity, suggesting that disciplines such as dance may not be influenced by the RAE [20]. This hypothesis has been supported in studies involving male and female figure skaters [21] as well as Croatian gymnasts [22]. However, contrasting findings have also emerged. For instance, an overrepresentation of relatively older male athletes was identified in pair skating and men's singles figure skating over a ten-year period, although season-specific analyses revealed a reverse trend in three particular seasons, and no significant RAE was found among female skaters during the same decade [23]. Similarly, an inverse RAE was detected among Korean male and female middle and high school artistic gymnasts [24]. Thus, esthetic sports exhibited RAE patterns that differed markedly from those in high-contact sports such as wrestling and judo, which were dominated by relatively older athletes [14,15]. In Canadian junior and senior national teams in women's artistic gymnastics, an unexpected birthdate distribution was observed, with a notable overrepresentation of gymnasts born in the second quartile in both the overall sample and among senior athletes analyzed separately, but not among junior gymnasts [21]. Some studies that explored within-sport variations emphasized the need for more granular analysis. For example, investigations focusing on apparatus specialization among female artistic gymnastics finalists revealed subtle birthdate-related patterns that were not evident in the broader international samples [25]. Interestingly, one study found that female gymnasts born early in the year were significantly less likely to compete at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships than those born later in the year [26]. Overall, findings related to the RAE in esthetic sports, particularly among female athletes, remain inconclusive. The presence of atypical and inconsistent patterns underscores the need for further research in this area. Rhythmic gymnastics (RG) is an Olympic esthetic sport practiced exclusively by women, notable for its early specialization and high training demands placed on athletes [27,28].