Gymcastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

The tie that wasn't a tie! This week's episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member RayRay, who requested an episode on "An Abundance of Shushunovas (TM Jessica) - The 1988 battle between Shushunova and Silvas." Thank you for letting us do this, RayRay!  Psst: Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the dumpster fire, so just a few words on that before we begin. We'll get into it in detail next week, but you can read the entire Ropes and Gray report here.  WATCH: UK Coverage; US Coverage  We discuss: Who won the AA battle, event by event, routine by routine Silivas's own thoughts about the hardest mats of all time Perms and shorterall leos and mullets — the big 3 THERE IS AN OUTLINE OF A BUTT ON THIS SPRINGBOARD Classic (i.e. horrifying) US fluff pieces Floor whisperers: We interpret the floor choreography with 100% accuracy The most 80s thing that has ever happened in history ever The SHOVE of victory Where are they now? Checking in with the main characters FURTHER READING 2019 Preseason Coac

  THIS WEEK (1:30) First, Scott Bregman of the Olympic Channel joins us to talk about his fantastic interviews with Simone Biles and John Orozco and handle Jessica's request for a naked interview with a bunch of Japanese men, or something IN THE NEWS (19:50) We discuss what we learned about THE DOCUMENTS from Scott Reid's report on the depositions in Aly's lawsuit against USAG and the USOC – it ain't good. The FIG Congress approved creating a Gymnastics Ethics Foundation — is this anything? The FIG has proposed changes in the way athletes qualify for worlds — we like! The USAG board has a new chairwoman – is there a secret golf cabal we should know about? Lou Anna Simon has been charged with lying to police – oh, that's too bad. Alex Naddour has been removed from the suspended members list. COTTBUS (56:50) Jessica's thoughts on the crowd, swimming naked in Germany, Milad Karimi's crib, white boards, and genetically modified Ukrainians Spencer jabbers endlessly about the Olympic qualification points ru

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Taylor, Princess of Sex Data, who requested a deep dive into the infamous CNN Parkettes documentary, Achieving the Perfect 10, that we can all quote by heart. We discuss Background What's the deal with Parkettes? The legacy of this piece Jessica's experience going to the Parkettes camp as a youth (!) Why we think Parkettes agreed to this Part 1: A 7-year-old with a broken ankle TOPs testing gives Spencer a panic attack How NOT to sound like a creeper when talking about a 7-year-old Everyone says "suck it up" 100,000 times because healthy We root for everyone to quit and go to a pool party Part 2: Get confident, stupid Demeaning people definitely makes them more confident The Mrs hates everyone, especially gymnasts, and teenagers, and you Jessica is still fawning over Nicole Harris to this day Part 3: Annie, are you OK? "Do you just think it's more important to have bobbles so people will give you attentions?" Why we're obsessed with deadpan

GYMTERNET NEWS The latest on...bum-bum-bum...decertification Mary Bono was submitted by THE USOC Is decertification inevitable...or not? THE DOCUMENTS We're being asked to believe some pretty ridiculous things right now... ...so we performed a play about what might maybe have happened Save your applause until the end Rules Clarifications. At worlds, the FIG held a forum to clarify rules and it was eventful. We CODE NERD OUT about: The messy chalk crackdown "No face painting. This is sport, not theater" No choreography onto the floor No soccer flopping The swing ring police (YES!) The two-foot-layout police (YES!) The side jump police (YES!) The beam rhythm police (YES!) THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW The myth, the legend, actual real-life big-boy sports reporter Will Graves of the AP joins us to discuss his experience in Doha and the current state of US gymnastics, including If he floated away in a flood Crowd size, and whether worlds should ever go back to Qatar His secret meeting with the country's #2

THIS WEEK'S This week Jessica is joined by Scott Reid from the Orange County Register. We discuss: Why All Olympia (AOGC) Mckayla Maroney and Mattie Larson's gym is closing.  Why the  U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) is moving to decertify USA Gymnastics (USAG) now.  Did USAG suddenly find the  "missing" Ranch medical documents? Whether or not the USOC is decertifying in order to force USAG into bankruptcy. What effect a USAG bankruptcy will have on the evidence gathering in the lawsuits. Will USAG really be decertified? Here's a link to his most recent article, "All Olympia agrees to pay Nassar survivor Mattie Larson $1 million" CONTEST WHAT: Norbert’s are giving away a  6' Long Sectional Beam. Model SB-402, $120 value and of course they pay shipping in the 48 continuous states. HOW: Twitter tag us and use hastag norbertsbeamgiveaway and tell us your favorite beam skill or post a GIF of it.  DEADLINE: November 12th at noon Pacific WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE SUPPORT THE SHOW Join Cl

WOMEN'S BEAM, FLOOR and MEN'S PARALLEL BARS, VAULT AND HIGH BAR EVENT FINALS Simone Biles won her back her gold crown on Floor. She also tied Khorkina's record for total World medals and broke Khorkina's all-around record by winning her fourth World all-around title. Simone, Morgan Hurd and Mai gobbled up the floor medals like champs but we have some questions about Melanie de Jesus dos Santos floor score and obviously Brooklyn Moors should have won all the medals because she is ART! Ri Se Gwang was allowed out of his secret training dungeon to grace us with his bionic ankles and crazy difficulty for the vault win. As expected the man should be given 10's for execution on P-Bars won gold and Oleg Verniaev hung in for silver. High bar was controversial with Epke winning with his huge D and improved form, but Kohei's better E earning silver. Sam Mikulak won his first EVER individual World medal with the highest execution of the final. WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE   FURTHER READING Just th

WOMEN'S VAULT AND BARS, MEN'S POMMEL HORSE, RINGS AND FLOOR EVENT FINALS Simone Biles breaks Scherbo's event medal record with her bazillianth vault gold.  Nina did it! She won the bar world championship gold! NINA DERWAEL!!! But do we agree with third and fourth place? NBC things The best stag jump on men's floor won gold and Kenzo was more excited for Yulo than himself. Pommel horse tie-breaker between Max Whitlock and Xiao. Why can't there be ties!? Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) doesn't need no stinkin' shoulder tender to win rings! Duh! WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE FURTHER READING Just the Good Stuff - Event Finals Day 1 Worlds 2018 - Event Finals Day 1 Just the Good Stuff - Womens All-Around Final Worlds 2018 – Women’s All-Around Final Just the Good Stuff: Men’s All-Around Final Worlds 2018 – Men’s All-Around Final Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Team Final Worlds 2018 – Women’s Team Final Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Team Final Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final SUPPORT THE SHO

  WOMEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL Simone wins her 4th world championship AA title—but how do we feel about someone winning with two falls? We break down the tight race for the remaining medals among Mai Murakami, Morgan Hurd, Nina Derwael, Angelina Melnikova, and Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos Mai and Nina make ALL THE HISTORY Plus, all the things that made Jessica well up with tears, scream at the world feed, hit Spencer in the leg, and sometimes all three WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL FURTHER READING Just the Good Stuff: Women’s All-Around Final Worlds 2018 – Women’s All-Around Final Just the Good Stuff: Men’s All-Around Final Worlds 2018 – Men’s All-Around Final Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Team Final Worlds 2018 – Women’s Team Final Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Team Final Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final SUPPORT THE SHOW Thank you Tumbl Trak! Join Club Gym Nerd here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES 336: Doha Worlds Men's All Around Final 335: Doha Worlds Womens Tea

DOHA: WOMEN'S TEAM FINAL   Kensley, Jessica and Spencer talk about the 2018 men's all-around final!  Sam Mikulak was third going in to the finals but high bar got him again. Why the all around tie-breaker of dropping the lowest score is the stupidest thing ever. Artur Dalaloyan's come back from team finals was so heartwarming. Xiao, Kenzo and Nagorny all the hearts and so did Nastia who hates the world feed and tie-breakers as much as we do. TELL 'EM Nastia! Watch along with us on YouTube  here CONTEST WHAT: Norbert’s are giving away a  6' Long Sectional Beam. Model SB-402, $120 value and of course they pay shipping in the 48 continuous states. HOW: Twitter tag us and use hastag #norbertsbeamgiveaway and tell us your favorite beam skill or post a GIF of it.  DEADLINE: November 12th FURTHER READING Just the Good Stuff: Mens's AA Final Worlds 2018 - Men's AA Final  Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 2 Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 2 Just the Goo

DOHA: WOMEN'S TEAM FINAL  Jessica and Spencer talk about the women's team final!  The US won by the largest margin of victor by a male or female team ever! Tom Forster actually told us the criteria for the lineups, asked for the gymnast's opinions and even told us the team goals which are completely reasonable! Russia and US rotation world peace. Historic finish for Canada. Don't worry Japan will be safe. The World feed might be ever worse than NBC with Trautwig. Our hearts broke for Brazil and China. How the French and German teams won our hearts. EVEN SPENCER'S! FURTHER READING Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 2 Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 2 Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 1 Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 1 Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Qualification Day 2 Worlds 2018 – Men’s Qualification Day 2 Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Qualification Day 1 Worlds 2018 – Men’s Qualification Day 1 (Russia) SUPPORT THE SHOW Thank you Tu

DOHA: MEN'S TEAM FINAL Kensley, Jessica, and Spencer talk about this super exciting disaster of a men's team final! China vs. Russia – China wins by 0.050! How it all went down, shock by shock, rotation by rotation Was the result fair? How do we feel about this new alternating-routines format? Plus, good-luck hickies and nose-hair close-ups Japan and the US and the fight for bronze Kohei comes through! Duh. But even Japan was not immune to the splat-monster How should the US feel about this 4th place finish? Terry, Tim, and Nastia were NOT having the world feed (then maybe NBC should open its WALLET instead of whining about it!!!!!!) RAGE THE FIG HAS MADE A RULE BANNING CELINE VAN GERNER'S CAT MAKEUP AND WE ARE NOT HAVING IT RAGGGGGEEEEEEEEE FURTHER READING Worlds 2018 – Men’s Team Final Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 2 Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 2 Just the Good Stuff: Women’s Qualification Day 1 Worlds 2018 – Women’s Qualification Day 1 Just the Good Stuff: Men’s Q

DOHA WORLDS: DAY THREE WOMEN'S PRELIMS Spencer, and Jessica  chat about the results of the final day of women's prelims at the 2018 Doha Artistic Gymnastics World Championships: The team final is set. We discuss: US, Russia rough vault, will they bring in the alternate? China lots of room for improvement but TingTing and Zhang made beam finals.  Canada were all Ellie Black and fantastic. Brazil won the leo competition and hit like beasts.  Japan still hanging in for finals. France and Melanie de Jesus Dos Santos. Germany and their killer bars. Which event final is going to be the most competitive. Hint IT'S BARS. Why new Romania is Jessica's new favorite Romanian team ever. Brooklyn Moors is in floor finals so the completion is legitimate. The latest from behind the scenes and things women can get arrested for in Qatar. FURTHER READING JUST THE GOOD STUFF: WOMEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 1 JUST THE GOOD STUFF: MEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 2 JUST THE GOOD STUFF: MEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 1 WORLDS 2018 – MEN’S QUALIF

DOHA WORLDS: DAY THREE WOMEN'S PRELIMS Spencer, and Jessica  chat about the results of women's prelims at the 2018 Doha Artistic Gymnastics World Championships: Simone's kidney stone (which she has nicknamed, "The Pearl of Doha") couldn't stop her leading by almost five points and making the Biles Vault official. We rave about Morgan Hurd peaking at exactly the right time to make AA finals. Kara Eaker's glorious beam, Riley McCusker's bars, Grace McCallum being money, and Ragan Smith being able to be part of the team on the floor. Nina Derwael (BEL) winning bars so far and probably making floor finals! Grown Ass Women news: Chuso, Germany, Netherlands and Japan.  Plus Marta Pihan-Kulesza (POL) bringing her baby Pink Panther, Jagna into the mixed zone and Jurkowska-Kowalska (POL), 26 making the laid-out gainer DOUBLE full beam dismount officially called the Jurkowska-Kowalska! Storms, falcons and the positive side of  Doha hosting a world championships. FURTHER READING JUST THE GOOD STUFF: WOMEN’S QUALIFIC

DOHA WORLDS MEN'S PRELIMS DAY TWO Spencer, Jessica and Kensley chat about: THE POMMEL-POCALYPSE claimed many lives, almost every favorite is out.  ALKASS.NET is streaming non-geoblocked but mostly video of people in the stands China was amazing. Sam Mikulak is in four event finals plus the AA final. First American man to do that since 1979! Team qualifications: Russia, China, Japan, US, Great Britain, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland Non-PH event finals are promising. Simone has kidney stones. FURTHER READING WORLDS 2018 – MEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 2 (USA, JPN, GB, CHN) WORLDS 2018 – MEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 1 (RUSSIA) Women's Podium Training Update WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFICATION PREVIEW SUPPORT THE SHOW Thank you Tumbl Trak! Join Club Gym Nerd here. Buy one of our awesome merch here. RELATED EPISODES 330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview U.S. Men's Team Conference Call 328: The US Worlds Team & CEO Dumpster Fire 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Comm

  DOHA WORLDS MEN'S PRELIMS DAY ONE Spencer, Jessica and Kensley chat about: The Russia show Heartbreak of Igor on vault, Belyavskiy missing all-around and Manrique Larduet not even trying for AA. Netherlands kicking ass, especially on HB even though Epke didn't do his full difficulty . New star Yulo Carlos Edriel from Philippines. Vault E scores are still wrong. Updates from the pool to women's start lists. FURTHER READING WORLDS 2018 – MEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 1 (RUSSIA) Women's Podium Training Update WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFICATION PREVIEW SUPPORT THE SHOW Thank you Tumbl Trak Join Club Gym Nerd here. Buy one of our awesome merch here. RELATED EPISODES 329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview U.S. Men's Team Conference Call 328: The US Worlds Team & CEO Dumpster Fire 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned) 326: The Great Individual vs. Team Debate 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned) 324: The Jade Carey Situation & a Miss Val Book Interview Drinking Game

THE NEWS Steve Penny got arrested Indicted on felony charges of tampering with evidence Oh. That's too bad. What are these alleged documents allegedly that he allegedly tried to remove from the ranch allegedly? Some things about this arrest...don't add up. What's really going on? Steve Penny has now been banned by USAG. LOLOLOLOLOLOL. The FBI emails We discuss the totally inappropriate-seeming emails exchanged between Steve Penny and an FBI agent Why everything about this is SOOOO Steve Penny Tasha Schwikert comes forward "Steve had always manipulated all of us really...he and USA Gymnastics made me feel like if it wasn't for them..." The clearest example of the semi-ambiguous "toxic culture at USAG that silences athletes" How this clarifies the infamous USAG 60 Minutes tweet WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS How to watch In the US, select qualification sessions will be streamed on NBC sports. Finals will be on the Olympic Channel and streamed on the Olympic Channel website. Women’s AA and event finals will b

IN THE NEWS BREAKING TUESDAY UPDATE: Mary Bono has resigned. We perform a dramatic reading of her resignation letter. Now, to the show. USAG appoints Mary Bono as its interim CEO, and Jessica and Spencer have no opinions about that. Oh wait, the opposite.  The Nike tweet and why that (and her fake apology) is so, so bad She worked for the damn USAG law firm Meanwhile, Simone is being a CHAMPION Has USAG learned NOTHING? (Spoiler: yes) On what planet was a politician the right person right now? ACTUAL GYMNASTICS The US women's worlds team has been named! And it makes sense! SIMONE DEBUTED A NEW VAULT YOU GUYS But seriously. This vault. I mean...come on. Just... Streaming the selection competition — good for everyone! Kara Eaker's beam score - how realistic is this? BUT WHO IS THE ALTERNATE? WHAT SHOULD THE TEAM FINAL LINEUPS BE? WHO DOES BEAM IN QUALIFICATION? We discuss. A taste of next week's worlds preview as we discuss medal prospects for the US women's team GYMTERNET NEWS Tom Forster did a

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Kerry, who requested an episode all about the 1993 NCAA Nationals, saying “This was the first NCAAs I ever watched as a kid growing up in Georgia, so this obviously got me hooked!” Setting the scene - what was college gymnastics like in the ancient year of 1993? A new format called "Super Six" was taking the college gymnastics world by storm Bonkers scoring and unrealistic 10s dominated the conversation (we wouldn't know anything about that)  The competition - watch along with us HERE. Press play when Jessica tells you The Great Marsden Billboard Incident of '93 We get distracted by the extremely 1993 fashions for a while Jessica is not having these pirouettes But seriously the fashion, you guys Agina Simpkins is the best thing ever to happen I MEAN THESE CLOTHES Dee Foster's vault still holds up today Greg Marsden hates the format (Shocked, I tell you!)  LONG LIVE GYM ACRO SERIES Hope Spivey-Sheely puts everyone else's difficulty to shame The le

THIS WEEK We have TWO episodes this week, so be sure to catch our 1993 NCAA Nationals commission as well on Thursday! Updates on some of the other difference makers we could have talked about last week but didn't. Like idiots. Plus, many more American collegiate medalists.  More on the Jade Carey situation Jessica thinks it's AWESOME, Spencer thinks it's strategically unsound, and they both think USAG botched it (but whaaaaa?)  The great INDIVIDUAL vs. TEAM debate, years in the making In the individual corner, Jessica O'Beirne, who gives two giant steaming turds about team medals In the team corner, Spencer Barnes, who finds a way to make this about math homework somehow We create some much better rules for how the US should be handling individual Olympic spots The Youth Olympic Games have started! We need to talk about the "mixed multi-discipline team event"  Jessica tells us about Shawn Johnson's interesting appearance on Freakonomics FURTHER READING The Jade Carey Problem  Strong Opinions About E

This week, we have a special episode commissioned by InterGalactic Champion level Club Gym Nerd member Matt who, inspired by Queen Alexandra Raisman, requested an episode about athletes who were bold enough to make a difference in the quality of life for others. He said, "Thus, for my commissioned episode, I would like for you to name your All-Olympic team of difference makers. Honorees must be Olympic gymnasts from any country or era who made a positive impact." Let's do this! Here are the athletes we're naming to our Olympic team of difference makers. Team Captain Vera Caslavska, who bowed her head in the 1968 medal ceremony to protest Soviet incursion in Czechoslovakia Hong Un Jong and Lee Eun Ju—The North/South Korea selfie heard 'round the world The Kuwaiti gymnast who came to worlds in 1991 just after documenting the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait Sub-discussion - the Japanese leotard in 2012 Farah Ann Abdul Hadi and daring to (GASP) wear a leotard Agnes Keleti, who survived WWII by posing as a Christia