20-Year Prospect
No. Just...no.
We're not sure if there is any worse career (in terms of job stability) out there to go into. Maybe shark dentist?
You're probably thinking to yourself, "Hey, what's so bad about gymnastics as a career?" Or you're wondering how to get into shark dentistry. We'll answer the first one because our lawyers assure us we can't answer the second.
Let's start with job growth. It's the least important aspect of the equation, but it's still part of it. Professional athlete jobs are projected to grow at 7%, which is slower than the average (source). That's athletics as a whole. It's including every sport. Even the ones people watch more than once every four years. Gymnastics just isn't a marquee sport.
Becoming a gymnast is also hazardous to your health (source). Ever notice how short gymnasts are? It's not because they recruit only from special tribes of hobbit children. The combination of eating disorders and stress permanently stunts growth.
Then there's the fact that it's very hard on the body in other ways. Any high-level sport is making the body move in ways it's not 100% designed to, and gymnastics is no exception. There are a laundry list of injuries (source).
Not to mention a female gymnast who is over twenty years old is over the hill. Shawn Johnson had to retire in 2012 because of an injury (source). Male gymnasts tend to last a bit longer, but this is a young person's sport. No one is still gymnasticking at age forty.
If you do choose to go this route, you will be switching careers before you hit thirty. Whether that's as a coach, commentator, or something else entirely, it has to be done.