Gymcastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

This week's group commission is brought to you by Vanessa and friends, who asked us to dedicate an entire episode to the iconic gymnastics masterpiece, Stick It. Your wish is our command. Since it's not called GymNICEtics, Jessica and Spencer begin by kind of getting into a fight about how Jessica truly, wholly, and unironically loves this movie, while Spencer...has some notes. No one is surprised by any of this. We discuss: Punk rock, feminist glory How Spencer is still mad at Hayley for walking out on worlds Inside jokes that only we would understand that are somehow IN A REAL MOVIE The Buttahara, the butt shelf, and the bra strap. Never forget. How and why is Jeff Bridges here? Protest-movement competition: Jessica's dream, Spencer's nightmare BECOME A CLUB GYM NERD MEMBER Join Club Gym Nerd here to commission your own episode.  Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES Behind The Scenes: Pet Psychic Episode 420: Jamie Dantzscher 421: Tokyo Rule Change Mini-sode 419: Sports Economist

GYMTERNET NEWS We have news! The FIG announced the changes in procedure for the 2021 Olympic qualification process, so Jessica and Spencer pop in for a brief rundown of what they decided, breaking down the good (code of points! Copenhagen!) and the bad (age eligibility! Baku!) and how it will affect the process over the next 15 months. CALLING ALL JUDGES A friend of the show is writing a book on the psychology of judging gymnastics! Eeeeee! If you are a gymnastics judge of any level or nationality, we ask that you take this survey and share it with your judge buddies to do the same. BECOME A CLUB GYM NERD MEMBER Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES BTS: Neighborhood Cat Drama 419: Sports Economist Dr. David Berri BTS: Why Diesel Forklifts and Indoor Arenas Don't Mix 418: American Anthem BTS: We Are All Athletes Right? 417: Bye Bye Tokyo 2020 BTS: Quarantine Party with Duchess 416: Everything Is Canceled

IT'S JAMIE DANTZSCHER YOU GUYS In this full episode with Jamie Dantzscher, we discuss... Life with the Rybackis, why Jamie "left," and why she came back How Jamie feels about their coaching now (spoiler alert: NOT GREAT) How weird it is that we still care about her 1999 floor music The bonkers 2000 Olympic selection process Speaking out publicly about Bela—then, later, and now—and a current sense of vindication Why Bela took her off bars in qualification in Sydney The INSANE story about why she didn't salute after her team final floor routine Being awarded a retroactive Olympic bronze medal, how she feels about it, and that famous press conference The time a judge apologized to her for the corrupt scoring at nationals What skills she would have done if she competed in an open-ended code What her relationship with Vanessa Atler is like now BECOME A CLUB GYM NERD MEMBER Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes here. Club Members get discounts on our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATE

HEADLINES MEMMEL: Like a beacon in the darkness, Chellsie Memmel came the closest she has ever come to announcing a comeback by saying she is kind of playing around and maybe training. We proceed to put her on 18 Olympic teams and give her all the world beam gold medals. Not sorry. SIMONE: Simone spoke for the first time to communicate her nuanced thoughts on Olympic postponement, not having a dumbbell (ADRIA!), and ugh having to deal with USAG more NEWLYMPICS: New Olympic dates have been announced. Spencer and Jessica break down what this means for meets and schedules, while taking different sides on Christine Brennan's editorial about this being disrespectful. GAME TIME How would a one-year delay have affected previous Olympic teams? We discuss what gymnasts would or wouldn’t have made Olympic teams if those games had been delayed a year. GYMTERNET NEWS COVID-19 fallout in Russia (featuring Khorkina and Valentina both being THE MOST), Tom Forster's questionable decisions, and [SIGH] the deal with As

AMERICAN ANTHEM The year: 1986 The film: American Anthem The quality: low Spencer and Jessica spend way too long this week on a deep dive into what is perhaps the most significant film in the gymnastics pantheon, teen sports-drama-romance American Anthem. Jessica lovvvveeed this movie as a middle schooler. Spencer hates everything. It's gonna get good. We discuss it all: very excellent gymnast acting, backlit hair and 13-foot-wide denim jackets, THE TRIFFUS OF MURRRDERRR, an 11-week-old Jenny Rowland putting Daniela Silivas to shame, the lovely and sensitive handling of domestic abuse (jk it's monstrous), storing your grips IN THE LEAVES, excessive gymnastics grunting sounds, and the true hero of this story—Becky Cameron. Join us? BECOME A CLUB GYM NERD MEMBER Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES BTS: We Are All Athletes Right? 417: Bye Bye Tokyo 2020 BTS: Quarantine Party with Duchess 416: Everything Is Canceled March 1

NO MORE TOKYO 2020 Via the IOC's longest-serving member, Dick Pound, we learned that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been postponed. It's been a long year this month, so Jessica has a list of Dick Pound jokes to get us through. It's most of the episode. After that, we discuss Why it was important to postpone Gymnastics implications Should the new 2021 seniors now become eligible for the Olympics? What code of points should be used? How should the unfinished qualification process be resolved? What of the 2021 world championships in Copenhagen? Which athletes are most affected by this, negatively and positively? Plus, McKayla Maroney opens up about the circumstances of her father's death and releases her debut single, a rundown of the dumpster fire news, Bart has an adult gymnastics challenge for you, and Full Out 2 has been released BECOME A CLUB GYM NERD MEMBER Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES 416: Everything Is Ca

GYMTERNET NEWS Everything has been canceled. We run through the events that have been canceled thus far (spoiler: it's all of them), and theorize what it might mean for Olympic qualification—if the Olympics actually happen. Note to FIG: We already figured out what you need to do, so just do what we say and you might survive. USAG has canceled events through May 10, but how much oversight does USAG have to tell clubs to stop training and classes? We discuss. Jessica uses the Olympic Spirit as a vehicle to tell people to stop being the absolute worst Spencer's favorite piece of news from the week, a (now-revised and no longer fun) real estate article that assumed Valeri Liukin and Yevgeny Marchenko were a couple. Plus, Shannon Miller knows about being Shannon F

COVID-19 Watch: what's cancelled and what's not...yet. The drastic differences in policy from college to college.

COVID-19 NEWS Jesolo is officially canceled, Qatar has instituted a quarantine period, Vanessa Ferrari JUST got out of Italy in time, Colin Van Wicklen has withdrawn, and the FIG told USAG to wash its hands. We're diving right into the disease news and how this affects Olympic qualification. AMERICAN CUP We discuss Morgan Hurd's glorious return to her rightful place atop the podium, the DAMN BARS breaking, Jennifer Gadirova emerging as the future of all that is right and good, Ellie Black being the most delightful person, and...sigh...Giorgia Villa. Jessica delivers our annual Rage-o-Meter response to the NBC commentary Sam Mikulak hit 6-for-6 and won, plus the best opportunities for comedy in the men's field INTERVIEW Jennifer Iacopelli author of Break The Fall MEET NEWS The US women swept Gymnix, and MyKayla Skinner won gold on bars (BARS)...though maybe with the wrong D score...oopsies Emily Lee tore her fingernail off and needed stitched but still gymnastics-ed all over the place Jessica really enj

AMERICAN CUP It's happening! This Saturday! Russia has withdrawn from the competition for...murky reasons that may or may not be related to viruses. Do we have multiple conspiracy theories about it? YOU BETCHA. What we're looking forward to seeing from Morgan Hurd and Kayla DiCello—and who's more likely to win Other people who could legitimately win, like Ellie Black and Giorgia Villa Our Must-Watch Athlete of the meet: Jennifer Gadirova What Nikita Nagornyy's absence means for Sam Mikulak and the US men's hopes of an extra Olympic spot What are we going to see from Oleg Verniaiev? Only his glass shoulder and legs made of hope can tell. Gymnix and Jesolo team updates. Watch Gymnix here GYMTERNET NEWS Laurie Hernandez is not attending US women's camp but still plans to compete later in the year Simone had some THOUGHTS about USAG and USOPC's latest stonewalling John Orozco officially changed his FIG license from the US to Puerto Rico! Former CMU coach Jerry Reighard is suing ESPN, which seems productive

MEN'S PROGRAM OOOPSIES (3:24) Between the all-around results mix-up and the World Cup...reassignments...the US men's program had quite the controversial week at Winter Cup. Kensley breaks it all down, with statements from USAG about both issues. USAG awarded the all-around medals to the wrong people. Great job. Yul Moldauer was under the impression he had 3 world cup assignments. Turns out, nope. We discuss the problems of miscommunication and having UNWRITTEN selection procedures for squads that have already been selected and meets that have already happened. How do we make sure things like this don't happen again? Live Blog: 2020 Winter Cup - Day 2 Live Blog: 2020 Winter Cup - Day 1 RAGE-O-METER (46:22) Details on the unacceptable "deal" USAG proposed to survivors, including four tiers of settlement money based on famousness and the release of Steve Penny, Marta, Don Peters, John Geddert, All-Olympia and others from all future claims W. T. (and we cannot stress this enough) F. Jessica has some choice fee

IMPORTANT BUSINESS We're doing another live show from NCAAs this year in Fort Worth!  We're doing another LIVE SHOW FROM NCAAs with special guest Jamie Dantztcher this year in Fort Worth!  When: Friday, April 17, 2020 after prelims Where: Fort Worth BotanicGardenAuditorium (1.1 mi from Dickies Arena) Time: Doors open 7:30, Live Show 8-930 Tickets: Club GymNerd pre-sale Feb 26-March 4. On sale to public starting March 5.  Join Club Gym Nerd here. Contest! We're giving away five copies of Break the Fall, Jennifer Iacopelli's YA novel from a true gym nerd who loves the sport. Find out how you can win one. Contest! We're giving away five copies of Break the Fall, Jennifer Iacopelli's YA novel from a true gym nerd who loves the sport. Find out how you can win one. GYMTERNET NEWS Riley McCusker announced she is now training at Arizona Sunrays (Jade Carey's gym). We discuss. There...might be...a...KERRI STRUG MOVIE. We already have 455 thoughts about what we need from this movie and how it could go very wron

This week, we open with rage (TV network-type), then switch to rage (dumpster fire-type), and go on to rage (Achilles injury-type), but then comes the fun part—Ellie Black's return and a brand new sass-filled Olympic year segment. UCLA's amazing Pride meet was the gayest thing ever to happen in gymnastics, and the Pac-12 Network pretended it didn't exist An SEC Network basketball commentator did a very very (very) bad one Following up on the Maggie Haney suspension and the Denis Abliazin racism A doctor is suing the USOPC for whistleblower retaliation Asuka Teramoto is out with a torn Achilles and nothing matters anymore Four-Year Headlines: Where we issue yellow cards to drive-by gymnastics coverage Olympic qualifier roster updates Sorting through what happened with rhythmic star Aleksandra Soldatova Elite Canada – Ellie Black is back, Shallon Olsen is a superhero, and we fangirl over Brooklyn Moors and Ana Padurariu exactly as much as usual NCAA News – Trinity Thomas and Maddie Karr got 10s, Hailey Pol

Today, a sort-of-depressing episode about suspensions and bankruptcy and the crimes of the criminal ex-doctor is saved by the beacon that is Simone posting a Yurchenko double pike video... Breaking: Maggie Haney has been suspended from contact with minors pending the results of the hearing and investigation – and what this means for Riley McCusker. Today's Interview: We're joined by John Barr and Dan Murphy, authors of Start By Believing: Larry Nassar's Crimes, the Institutions That Enabled Him, and the Brave Women Who Stopped a Monster to discuss their book, that time they tracked down Kathie Klages, and what to make of USAG's latest settlement offer in bankruptcy court. GYMTERNET NEWS Simone posted a video of herself doing a Yurchenko Double Pike...into a pit. We get way too unrealistically excited and start talking about potential D-values and how many men's vault titles Simone is going to win. Will the coronavirus prevent Chinese gymnasts from going to essential Olympic qualifiers? And what can be do

OLYMPIC QUALIFIER NEWS The American Cup rosters are out. We delve into the crazy-deep men's field, some of the surprises of the women's field, and what this means for Olympic qualification. Jade Carey is going to Melbourne. How does this affect the race for the apparatus spots? COLLEGE MEET NEWS Kensley went to Metroplex. She shares how loud it was (very) and observations from a civilian gym viewer. LSU/Florida was INTENSE: We break down the 10s, amazing meets from Trinity Thomas and Ruby Harrold, and the injury to Sarah Edwards Plus, Lexy Ramler got a 10 again, what not to do when someone is trying to vault, and Derrian Gobourne showed everyone how to fall Crack or Correct takes on the phenomenon that is Michigan home scoring CLUB GYM NERD MINI-COMMISSION It's Jessica's dream come true: a commission about Cuba! We cover the highs (Artistic integrity! Originality! Annia! The Tamayo!) and the lows (federation mismanagement and funding issues) that characterize the history and legacy of Cuban gymnastics T

NATIONAL TEAM CAMP Jessica attended the first national team camp of the year in Indianapolis. We discuss: Simone's injury status, mental blocks, new book, and what grade she'd give USAG The most important upgrades...that we're allowed to talk about Olympic team predictions 6 months early and based on exactly two practices The best floor routine in the history of all the evers Laurie Hernandez Watch Atmosphere changes compared to the past Kitty litter boxes for some reason REMEMBER: Join Club Gym Nerd for three full Behind The Scenes episodes just from camp with interviews from Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker and Jordan Chiles. Plus, more to come.  NCAA NEWS We break down the furor over Oklahoma's scoring this weekend Crack or Correct? (And a little Crack or Crack?) Spencer's Crack Den on "You need to have a name to get a big score." Plus, justice for Lexy Ramler (FINALLY), a Shchennikova update, the Stevens, and records for Minnesota, Cal, Rutgers, and Alaska GYMTERNET NEWS The Michigan AG and

Rage-o-Meters galore, a mini-commission about what college gymnastics is doing right, Spencer’s Crack Den featuring a meet so crazy that Kathy Johnson had to do a twitter thread about TAKING deductions, Terin Humphrey wrote a book, the Aurora Games has failed to pay the majority of the staff or athletes, Denver and Minnesota showed WHY WE LOVE COLLEGE GYMNASTICS! HEROES!Olympic Champion and holocaust survivor Agnes Keleti, just turned 99.

BRENNA DOWELL (4:00) Continuing our now two-year-old tradition of beginning the NCAA season by asking the final person to compete for last year's winning team to be our first guest of the new year, today we are delighted to be joined by Brenna Dowell! We discuss that vault from championships, leaving NCAA to pursue elite and coming back again, having that story depicted in a movie, GAGE and its GAGEness, Italian culinary adventures, her future plans, her thoughts on USAG's exposed corruption and that time she wasn't allowed to train with the team at 2015 Worlds. MEET NEWS (40:22) Jessica and Spencer attended the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, and we have a lot to say about Ragan Smith Joy Watch Crack or Correct: Alexis Vasquez's beam 10.000 The trend for 2020: walking off the floor in an extra fashion Obsessions named Samantha Sakti, Alma Kuc, Chloe Widner, and Nevaeh DeSouza A feelings moment that Jessica missed so Spencer has to talk about. UGH. Plus elsewhere: WTF happened to LSU, meeting the judges in

GYMTERNET NEWS The Simone Tour We discuss the Gold Over America Tour (Get it? The...GOAT? DO YOU GET IT?????) and why we love everything about this You know who doesn't love everything about this? Jon Horton. Spencer and Kensley go toe-to-toe about Horton's tour comments and the subsequent Twitter dustup. Jessica has some theories about why the men won't be on Simone's tour, which includes a homework assignment for you over the holiday break (because she's totally the mean teacher) Russia and 2020: What's Going on There? We dispel some myths and inaccurate news headlines about Russia's Olympic "ban" that definitely isn't a ban What it means for gymnastics (spoiler: nothing) College Intrasquads That time Jay Clark fell over while spotting, a mysterious bars routine that may or may not be exciting (?), and Jessica's celebrity-guest-judge experience at UCLA And the Rest Morgan Hurd and Sam Mikulak are going to American Cup, Amy White is no longer with USAG, Maggie Haney's hearing was moved, Raducan

This week's episode was commissioned by Anonymous, who requested an episode about the US men's bronze-medal performance in the 2008 team final, saying: “I would like to dedicate the commission to all of the females, be it as coaches, judges or fans, who have fled the WAG dark side to appreciate all of the joys, amazement and wonders on the extraordinary MAG side of the sport. The story of the 2008 US Men's Team Bronze is a perfect example of why we love MAG so much.” Setting the scene: The US men's fantastic 2004 Olympics and subsequent tragic start to the open-code era Most dramatic selection EVAH: We've got freak mat injuries, positive drug tests that USAG continues lying about on its website (FUN), injury petitions directly onto the Olympic team, mysterious demonstrations of readiness at camp, last minute-withdrawals, and a team of backups with absolutely no chance of winning a medal.  First-hand accounts: Behind-the-scenes tales from Justin Spring and Jon Horton about what went on at trials and before qu