Gymcastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

The greatest rivalries of the 1980s! This week, we have a commissioned episode from Club Gym Nerd member Kimo, who asked for an episode all about the 1980s rivalries between the Romanians and the Soviets, both team and individually. We are oh so happy to oblige! Setting the scene A history of Soviet dominance Romania’s 1976 emergence The 1977 Europeans Romanian WALKOUT! The first great Romanian/Soviet rivalry—Nadia vs. Nellie and how it may or may not have influenced the future of gymnastics Romania wins in 1979, the “Nadia Infected Wrist” worlds The true story of Nadia’s fake injury and government control The Rivalry The 1980 Olympics of crazy judging Nadia vs. Davydova and the case of the 30-minute delay Nadia vs. Nellie and the case of the “computer malfunction” Mukhina’s paralysis and the race for innovative difficulty 1981 Worlds The silliest scores of 1981 (oh, it’s 9.800 for this) The case of the Szabo/Agache impersonation of 1981 Romania ends up 4th. That’s right 4th. 1983 Worlds Innovati

ALL GYMTERNET NEWS, ALL THE TIME Dumpster fire news  It has been yet another terrible month for USAG (a theme???) The Li Li Today interview disaster The further mess of the botched hiring of Edward Nyman Whose side are we on here? And is it no one's? (It's no one's) A deep dive into the unprofessional incompetence of everyone ever Seriously Terin? The Terin Humphrey Facebook nonsense. The disastrous, unacceptable debacle that was Mary Lou's latest TV appearance NCAA Coaching Musical Chairs (41:20) Jordyn Wieber is the new head coach at Arkansas What do we think of this move? Is 23 too young to be a head coach? And most importantly, should Chris Brooks be her assistant? Chris Waller has been named head coach at UCLA What does a successful Chris Waller tenure look like? We discuss both results and bras. Guess who brought up which topic. More from the NCAA coaching carousel, including all the changes at Utah Olympic and World Championship news  (55:30) Olympic teams are returning to FIVE (co

MORGAN AND HEATH! This week, Jessica and Spencer chat with gymnastics royalty—2017 world all-around champion Morgan Hurd and 2018 Australian national floor champion and worlds squad member Heath Thorpe—about being the undisputed monarchs of the gymternet and much more, including How they became friends and whether they're accepting applications for new members Behind the scenes stories from 2018 worlds Which apparatuses are the stupidest and least stupidedest Forcing Morgan to try to come up with the names of MAG skills Heath's gymnastics idols, and his decision to be out publicly on the internet Embarrassing fan tales about the time Morgan met Aliya Mustafina The story behind Morgan's new floor routine, and if there are any other secret upgrades she can reveal to us The deal with Morgan's crazy elbow and her most recent surgery The Morgiboo Book Club – what are we reading this month? Favorite movie genres, escape rooms, how 3 out of 4 of us don't care about Game of Thrones, and all kinds of nonsense What's

NCAA Championships! Live show – Thank you to everyone who came. It was AHMAZING! We recap our favorite moments. Oklahoma won the thing with a dominant performance Jessica takes you through all the FEELINGS moments from the press conference—with the trainer, and the team, and the crying, and YOU GUYS and BRENNNNAAAA Maggie Nichols wins AA for 2nd year in a row. How it happened, plus thoughts on that floor routine composition LSU performed excellently to finish 2nd. Which is good. That tweet. Oh, we have thoughts. Sarah Finnegan won the AAI Award because correct An off day for UCLA put the Bruins in 3rd Thoughts on Marz Frazier’s absence from the floor lineup How will a new coach balance maintaining UCLA’s identity with his/her own personal style and approach? Denver’s 4th place is the team’s best-ever result. By a LOT. Coach Linas has taken the bars coaching showmanship up yet another notch Discussion of how much we missed 6-team sessions with byes. It’s zero. Semifinal thoughts Hello Oregon Stat

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (1:54) Gymnastics journalist and (now) broadcaster extraordinaire Blythe Lawrence joins us to talk all about the European Championship! WOMEN MELANIE DE JESUS DOS SANTOS - she is the official queen of Europe, and the happiest person about it is Coline Devillard in the stands Alice Kinsella's rollercoaster meet, where no British women fell on beam Maria Paseka's Cheng. We have a necessary emergency therapy session about it.  The rise of the new Italian seniors, Ukraine, and Belarus (!)  Just talking about Eythora for a long time because WE NEED TO MEN Russian dominance and Nagornyy's dethroning of Dalaloyan Dalaloyan almost fell on a man wipe in the FX final. You know, the important stuff MARIOS succeeds with execution Breaking down the insanity of that vault final, moment by moment Updates on the Dom Cunningham injury and Oleg's current status The REAL stories of Euros (47:14) Luba got the scoop behind Nekrasova's unitard from Baku Spencer starts an entire sub-podcast about Nico

LIVE SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Remember: Tickets to our live show from NCAA nationals—the Flipping Four After Party presented by Tumbl Trak —are on sale now, and there are only 15 left! Get 'em while they exist. TICKET GIVEAWAY: Plus, we're giving away 2 pairs of tickets! How to enter: Finish this sentence on Twitter or Instagram: “If I were in charge of the college code I would....” including #JudgeMeChellsie #GymCasticLive and tagging @precisionchoreo. Deadline: Sunday, April 14th at midnight (PST). Grand Prize: At the live show, the two ticket winners (or their selected representatives) will do a Memmel impression-off to win the grand prize—a My Gym Judge session with Chellsie Memmel. Compliments of Precision Choreography. Attendees: Make sure to go straight to the event after the Flipping Four to put your name in for the amazing giveaways. NCAA REGIONALS (9:20) It all went to plan...until it didn't Oregon State  A forensic investigation, with historical reference points, of the Florida beam disaster and

LIVE SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Remember: Tickets to our live show from NCAA nationals—the Flipping Four After Party presented by Tumbl Trak —are on sale. In addition to gifts for every attendee, t-shirts (while supplies last), and door prizes from our store, you can win a My Gym Judge session with Chellsie Memmel. Compliments of Precision Choreography. Get ’em while they’re hot. Regionals Preview (3:30) NCAA Regional Championships begin this Thursday with the new play-in meets and end on Saturday, when the 8 teams advancing to nationals will be decided. Spencer gives the rundown of what to expect—while trying to fit in as many SYTYCD, Madonna, and Laura Linney references as possible. You know, gymnastics content.  Schedule here.  Interviews Galore! Sarah (of the Shire) Brown (8:12) In her second season as head coach at Penn State, Sarah Brown joins us to talk about her time at GAGE, what it's really like there, and what happens if you're not turned out in the airport. Plus, the changes she tried to institute

LIVE SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Remember: Tickets to our live show from NCAA nationals—the Flipping Four After Party presented by Tumbl Trak —are on sale. Get ’em while they’re hot. Want a hint about our secret special guest? Go to the 41:36 minutes. MEET NEWS Birmingham World Cup (2:11) Why did everyone fall on everything? Try the crazy spotlight lighting! Measure your lumens, yo! Aliya is the champion and is going to Euros now—called it! Riley McCusker is the women's team answer to Sam Mikulak ...and the FIG still can't tell any of the Chinese gymnasts apart. Great. Superstars (or Stuperstars) of Gymnastics  (14:54) Jessica loved it and Spencer was like [sigh]—obviously We discuss Danusia's new vault family, Simone stealing the show with the best line of the night, Ellie Black going ALL IN on this craziness, Casimir Schmidt's pink broccoli boxers, how Laurent was one of the celebrity judges, Jessica's feelings moments, and more NCAA Conference championships (43:24) LSU beats Florida in an intense SEC

LIVE SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Remember: Tickets to our live show from NCAA nationals—the Flipping Four After Party presented by Tumbl Trak —are on sale. Get ’em while they’re hot. ATHLETE ASSISTANCE FUND (2:30) The Athlete Assistance Fund has partnered with the New York Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children to provide child sexual assault prevention training to national gymnastics programs. We discuss what the Athlete Assistance Fund is and what this partnership is going to do. We will continue to support Saving Our Survivors Fund via our store.  COLLEGE NEWS (10:03) The Miss Val farewell meet was as extra as you knew it would be The Valorie Kondos Field Floor was unveiled. We have some other ideas for coach-naming tributes Jessica tells us about what we didn't see on TV, and it involves flash mobs and ice sculptures and math problems We've been given a challenge to talk about college meets without discussing the judging. Jessica accepts the challenge. Spencer passes. Why that ridiculous roller co

LIVE SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Remember: Tickets to our live show from NCAA nationals—the Flipping Four After Party presented by Tumbl Trak —go on sale to the general public on Wednesday March 6th. Get ’em while they’re hot. MEET NEWS (2:30) L'International Gymnix — the Montreal floor strikes AGAIN We break it down moment-by-moment, try to get a redo for special Belgians, and discuss Alyona Shchennikova almost tumbling into some dude Kara Eaker wins the AA, Shchennikova does the best DTY she has ever done, and what happens when a front tuck on beam is too high to function Lilly Lippeatt's WOW floor combo (19:18) Russian Nationals! Luba from Gymnovosti is here to fill us in on all the goodies from last week's Russian Championship of Splats—who won, who fell, who won AND fell Who made the European Championships team (for now), and why it wasn't Aliya despite ALIYA The returns of Paseka and Eremina, how Daria Belousova made Jessica into a prophet, and the most important news of all—our annual Tatiana Nabiev

LIVE SHOW TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Remember: Tickets to our live show from NCAA nationals—the Flipping Four After Party presented by Tumbl Trak —go on sale to the general public on Wednesday March 6th. Get 'em while they're hot. Men's Program Clarification (4:55): Paul Ruggeri is the new athlete representative on the USAG Board of Directors.  Steven Legendre is still the athlete advocate representative for the men's team. THE MEETS! American Cup – Women (7:39) LEANNNEEE WONNNNG THE END Fact-checking Jessica's feelings, brought to you by Uncle Tim (!!!!) Why someone needs to get Armine a Spotify subscription Kim Bui is a bars NINJA and Jessica has a plan to get her an Olympic medal Grace McCallum will do Grace McCallum every single Grace McCallum for Grace McCallum points. How she rode being Grace McCallum to the E-score title TIE FOR BRONZE between Black and Murakami There were four whole world-medal-level gymnasts at the top of their games fighting for medals. At AMERICAN CUP. You guys. The true winne

NCAA NEWS How to get your early release tickets for our live show at NCAAs. A little something called the UCLA/Utah meet. We have many thoughts about how crazy the internets are being about MyKayla Skinner and newspapers. Also gymnastics isn't cotillion, and you all got overscored.  (10:22) The Carol Address. An email about the sudden phenomenon called bias in judging (which just started now) was sent to the NCAA judges this week. We perform a dramatic reading.  (24:10) By popular demand, the Oklahoma fish net leotard discussion (27:35) Trinity Thomas went to national team verification directly after the Florida meet. We discuss what the elite program can do to encourage more athletes to do both college and elite at the same time. (29: 47) A shout out to Sarah Finnegan's right leg for its unwavering support during these troubled times.  Crack or correct: The trouble with DIII scoring, when this Y1.5 gets 9.600. Plus Natalie Wojcik's make-up 10 and the inconsistent application of "form forgiveness" in evalu

LI LI LEUNG (1:38) The new USAG President and CEO is Li Li Leung formerly a vice president at the NBA. We evaluate whether or not she is the right choice for USAG (another *cough* marketer *eye roll* and of course analyze, her actual gymnastics. Here are some of the former junior elite and University of Michigan gymnast's routines FX, BB. NCAA NEWS (19:40) Crack or correct  The mega-controversial Georgia/Kentucky meet A perfect 9.950 from Sarah Finnegan, and what should have been one from Sarah Shaffer The latest UCLA 10s from Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi Gymnasts are NINJAS (37:40) Anna Warhol's epic vault save Jessica pens a love ode to her new wife, Rachel Borden of Illinois  Womp womp news  The Toni-Ann Williams injury that's NOT FAIR Spencer takes issue with UCLA's alleged pride meet Safety (59:45) The NCAA responds to our questions about safety and equipment failures GYMTERNET NEWS (1:06:19) Dan Purvis announces his retirement GYMNASTICS IS FOR EVERYONE, screams Jessica Utah Gymnastics

MEET NEWS It's a party! Jessica and Spencer are joined by Kensley AND Evan to discuss all of the many, many (many) gymnastics-related events of the past week.  WOGA Classic (1:18): Kensley was there and discusses Ashton Locklear's return, the Blakelys, and the presence of the entire Brazilian women's team NCAA news (6:38) How the mid-season blues affected LSU, Georgia, and apparently shorted out live stream and live score capabilities across the country The bars drama at Denver and why Brenna Dowell did not compete Evan needs you to know that if you're not Lynnzee Brown's double layout, you're doing it wrong George Washington's best meet promotion ever Trinity Thomas is too perfect for this code Nebraska's entirely non-pusillanimous vault rotation, and the floor-side throne that brought out peak-narcissism Spencer The worst commentary disasters of the weekend Why Missy Marlowe and Jenny Hansen reigned as heroes Crack or correct—10s edition (56:45) Lynnzee Brown's tumbling AND dance element brilliance, Ka

NCAA NEWS (5:22) An extended crack or correct about basically every routine at that insane Oklahoma/Florida meet A fall is a fall is a fall is a fall is a fall Confusion about the code of points and rules used to judge NCAA (also from the actual judges, apparently) Rules Modifications for NCAA The deductions that should have been taken in an example routine from this preposterous display of scoring More Hall of Fame crack with UCLA and Oregon State The worst crime of the whole weekend: UCLA's leotards Sad crack: the underscoring of Sarah Shaffer's perfect Y1/2  Anger come-down: Oregon State's death by hugging, Emily Muhlenhaupt's 9.975 on bars, and Lexy Ramler's perfect beam  The SHOCKING TRUTH about NCAA scores in 2019 Bowling Green wins this week's random stick-themed nonsense award MINI-COMMISSION The Anti-Wolf Turn (1:09:41) Abzug has commissioned a segment all about turns, asking most crucially, do any less ugly turns have the same difficulty as wolf turns? Oh my yes. We discuss. Jessica tal

NCAA NEWS Oklahoma extends its national lead at Metroplex, and Maggie is back Jessica has a moment about Stanford, featuring a story of public embarrassment from her college years (yay!)  Auburn has a stick stick, Washington has a money gun, and Maryland has a sparkly turtle shell. The real heroes.  Weekly feelings alert: The Ari Guerra story Or, does gymnastics fetishize and celebrate risking your future health too much? Example, Kim Hamilton's excellent book starts with her post-gymnastics crawling on the floor, in too much pain to stand. The problem with scoring the rotation order—and what's the best lineup strategy if you know Carol is coming to town?  Crack or correct: The Natalie Wojcik problem and the most WTF vault score ever for Penn So that happened: John Roethlisberger, the Auburn dudes, and we'll never be the same A sexism Rage-o-Meter from...Spencer? Stop listing the names of the parents like that's a stat, and maybe hire some more women for these jobs GYMTERNET NEWS We discuss how much mo

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS (03:36) SEC excitement won the day on Friday. We ask: is there actually a way to make wins and losses matter in college, or is it just a nice idea? Plus, Ruby's shriek of joy, Alexa Al-Hameed's Tkatchev, the Priessman/Hundley friendship featurette for people with feelings, Finnegan being all Finnegan, and Baumann being all Baumann Crack or correct: Lexie Priessman's 9.825 VT (8:08) and Trinity Thomas's 9.950 FX Sabrina Vega literally broke the beam in Georgia (or it bowed to her greatness) Spencer has no words for the insane scoring at the UCLA/Arizona State meet. Oklahoma scores 197.000, which is like 193.000 for Oklahoma Maggie Nichols out with a bruised heel Crack or correct: Anastasia Webb's 9.950 on beam (45:20) McKenna Merrell-Giles wins the hilarious beam fall award, and what's the deal with Skinner's scores? Random stick-themed nonsense of the week: Oregon State's stick chainsaw, and Illinois' stick STICK Shout outs to Arden Hudson of Ball State for vaulting a handspring repu

CONTEST: Prize: University of Denver hat, shirt and sweatshirt. How to Enter: Tell us why you love Denver gymnastics and use the #DenverGymCastic on Twitter or Instagram. Deadline: Sunday, Jan 20th at midnight Pacific. Do I have to be a Club Gym Nerd member? No! Open to all. IN THE NEWS The Rhonda debacle: Michigan hires, then fires, Rhonda Faehn in the span of a single weekend. Because gymnastics totally has its life together.  What the team members are saying, what Rachael Denhollander is saying, and how we navigate the politics of whose voice gets to matter—especially when people we agree with happen to disagree with each other Why gymnastics fans largely have a better impression of Rhonda than of the other USAG employees involved How the University of Michigan royally screwed this up in every way Dan Baker replaced MLT as the developmental program head coach (from what we can tell), and USAG didn't say a word about it COLLEGE GYMNASTICS Auburn upsets LSU Derrian Gobourne is a star (1:14:15) The ent

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS WEEK 1 Jessica and Spencer are joined this week by a special guest, the legend that is Peng Peng Lee, to recap the first weekend of the college gymnastics season RECORDS: Oklahoma sets a first-weekend record and BRENNA DID BEAM, breaking Jessica Peng reveals the secret to perfect beaming INJURIES: Bailie Key is going to miss another season and Lexie Priessman is coming back from her 9th surgery Peng takes us through the roller coaster that has been her injury history, from back injuries that could have left her paralyzed, to stopping gymnastics for a year, to her multi-season ACL drama Plus, how Peng's sixth year came about, why bridges are stupid and no one should do them, and where you can find her now OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMEDY: Arkansas has a hog nose on a chain, Alex Hyland has Fresh Prince of Bel-Air floor music, and Maya Bordas wins the beam save award HIGHLIGHTS: Natalie Wojcik is our freshman of the week, Gracie Kramer's floor is Spencer's favorite because of weird, and Claire

INSPIRATION NEWS (1:58:00) We're going to Tokyo! Rachael Denhollander and Maggie Nichols are inspirations (duh) Simone is dominant (also duh)  ROPES & GRAY (9:10:00) The Ropes and Gray Investigation released its report What we learned about Scott Blackmun and Alan Ashley Nassar's unsatisfactory score in 2012 and unpacking Martha's not wanting "the gymnasts to be with the boxers" comment The FBI...what were you even doing? Kathy Kelly and Renee Jamison were in charge of handling abuse reports...so nope THEY KEPT THE RECORDS IN A BARN What do we do with this information? What was the point? What do we need now? GYMTERNET 2018 – A Year In Review (1:08:46) The GymCastic Indictment Draft – As we review the events of the year that was, yell DRAFT every time you want to put someone (or something, or a concept) on your all-indictment fantasy list BRING ON 2019 (1:37:07) New seniors we're too excited about (ITALY) Giorgia Villa - Youth Olympic Games Champ - Bars Elisa Iorio - Bars  D’Amato twins, Asi