Gymcastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

IN THE NEWS The roster for the US worlds selection camp has been named—and Jade Carey isn't on it! What the LKJDF;LKSJDF is going on around here? Why this doesn't make strategic sense for the US women's program Why this might make strategic sense for Jade Carey herself We foresee several dozen cans of worms this could open The Paris World Cup and the Case of the Missing Touch Warmup Why that's bad and also probably against the rules Ellie Black and the French dominate Igor was so incredibly Igor that we cannot even begin It took over 5 damn hours, and Jessica is not having it The requisite amount of Russian team drama MISS VAL INTERVIEW Miss Val's book Life Is Short, Don't Wait to Dance is available now in print or audio form! Jessica chatted with Miss Val, her co-author Coop (conflict of interest disclaimer: who also happens to be Jessica's husband), and our potentially overqualified sound engineer for the evening Aimee Boorman, and things may have descended into a Netherlands drinking game. So, nor

CONTEST What: 5 winners get a copy of Miss Val’s book: Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance  Grand Prize: Book and 15 minute personal phone call with Miss Val. How to Enter: Using the #DontWaitToDance on Twitter or Instagram tag us @GymCastic with a 5 second video doing your favorite UCLA floor choreography. Doesn't have to be you, use your dog, fingers, make a friend do it.  Bonus entries: Link to the book. Enter as many times as you want.  When: Now to October 5th *Conflict of Interest Disclaimer: Jessica's husband co-authored this book. THE BIG STORIES Miss Val will retire after the 2019 season (3:30) Nostalgia for the age of larger-than-life coaches What does UCLA do now? And is it a knife fight for the head coach position? MLT interview - the aftermath (20:20) How Jessica feels about it now and why she never wants to do it again “This is a sense in which reconciliation can serve as a powerful force for societal healing. But at the same time, these negative consequences on the individual psyche are s

THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW Mary Lee Tracy (MLT) has coached two Olympic gold medalists (four Olympians total) and has had over 25 national team members. Mary Lee was recently hired as USA Gymnastics Developmental Coordinator, only to be asked to resign after survivor backlash and "contacting a survivor."  She was joined by Valorie Kondos-Field (Miss Val), UCLA head coach and advocate for culture change at USAG. This interview was conducted on September 9th 2018. We discuss:  Criticism of MLT's coaching methods, including: nutrition, weigh-ins, injuries and tone-deaf social media posts. What both coaches have done wrong in the past and understanding victim shaming.  Her thoughts on Marta Karolyi and the culture at the Ranch. Her defense of Nassar interview. If she ever stood up to Martha Karolyi or asked for changes at the Ranch. Her social media posts and comments, including Kelli Hill's response to Aly Raisman on our Facebook page.  What she has learned from talking to survivor, Amanda Jetter. Prevention of groo

GYMTERNET NEWS Jessica spent the day with Mary Lee Tracy. WHAT???????? Dumpster Fire News A post-mortem on the Perry Years (year) (nine months).  Where does USA Gymnastics go from here?  The DOJ is investigating why the FBI didn't open a formal investigation for nine months. MMMhmmmm.  Debbie van Horn was arrested upon returning to Texas from China. Kathie Klages is being charged with lying to investigators and could face jail time Reflections on the interview with Aly and Lynn Raisman The sad story of Sae Miyakawa, the abusive coach, and the federation. (There is video of the coach hitting Sae. Warning: it's awful.) The first women's national team camp at EVO concluded over the weekend Help save UIC Gymnastics MEET NEWS Asian Games North Korea shines with Kim Su Jong and Jon Jang Mi We debate whether Pyon Rye Yong's Amanar is terrifying or not Yeo Seojeong is your new vault queen We complain about the "0.000" rules on vault (again) Lighting candles for Dipa Rifda Irfanaluthfi is a home-nation HERO

This week, it's a special Spencer Blogcast all about the latest USA Gymnastics disasters, from the appointment of Mary Lee Tracy, to the resignation of Mary Lee Tracy, to the resignation of our least favorite scarf model, Kerry Perry. It's been quite a little week. ESSENTIAL ARTICLES AND SCREENSHOTS -Mary Lee Tracy defends Larry Nassar as "amazing" (Dayton Daily News) -Mary Lee Tracy defends the ranch as "a learning environment" -Dominique Moceanu and Alyssa Beckerman recall MLT's coaching -Tom Forster and Lori Forster defend Mary Lee Tracy -Mary Lee Tracy says she's being cyber-bullied (WCPO) -Mary Lee Tracy says she has to resign because she tried to contact "Ali" -USA Gymnastics announces the resignation of Mary Lee Tracy -Mary Lee Tracy un-resigns and is seeking counsel -Mary Lee Tracy actually isn't seeking counsel (NYTimes) -Lynn Raisman says Aly Raisman was never contacted by Mary Lee Tracy -Votes of no confidence from the US Elite Coaches Association for Women's Gymnastics (1, 2) and the US Athletic

THE ALY INTERVIEW Aly's experience, in her own words. On August 19th, the morning before the women's final at US Championships, Jessica had the opportunity to visit the amazing Raisman vegetable garden and spend the morning with Aly and Lynn Raisman, speaking about...well...everything—from USAG's insane official policies about abuse, to Steve Penny's shady business dealings, to what Aly really thinks about Martha. Plus, How Aly feels about being victim-shamed by coaches on social media Why she decided to come forward in a book, and getting misquoted in the media The less-than-warm welcome she received from USAG and Ron Galimore in 2017 A mysteriously canceled NBC interview  Why it's impossible to trust SafeSport How USAG treated Mattie Larson at 2010 worlds What happened at 2015 worlds, and the need to impress Martha Extreme weight pressure and the lack of dietary and medical education in US gymnastics The monetary exploitation of US Olympic gymnasts, featuring crazy Steve Penny sponsorship stories What she

2018 US NATIONALS (8:35) Feelings Corner: Starring Jessica O'Beirne and TEAL WONDER WOMAN GUARDIAN ANGEL HUGS Discussion: This was a historically well-hit nationals. Does it undermine the notion that the women need regular national team camps? And is it weird how much credit we give the coaches instead of the athletes? Gushing: Simone, Morgan, Riley. Duh.  Err: What was the deal with Ragan Smith?  Plus: Jade Carey sticking a Moors, justice for Kara Eaker, TRINITY, some love for Jaylene Gilstrap, and Jordan Chiles' attempt at Wolfkino Part 2 didn't really work out. Twice.  RAGE (36:04) We're very concerned that Tom Forster doesn't understand the Olympic qualification process 2020 Olympic Qualification Explained Kerry Perry deigned to address the media, and it was awful Ron Galimore: STILL THERE What change can really happen when people who DON'T EVEN BELIEVE THE SURVIVORS are being given positions of power in the women's program? OK, BACK TO NATIONALS (1:06:56) All the behind the scenes goodies from t

US Championships Preview SENIOR WOMEN Hurd, Smith, McCusker, and the quest to be the #2 all-arounder Spencer has already decided the worlds team. Jessica tells him why he's wrong Explaining the Marz Frazier UCLA/Parkettes situation Getting excited for Trinity Thomas and Maile O'Keefe  Jessica's very realistic predictions and anticipated miracles JUNIOR WOMEN (42:25) The Big Four battle it out, and we pick who's going to win among Sunisa Lee, Jordan Bowers, Leanne Wong, and Kayla DiCello More discussion of Levi Jung-Ruivivar because duh. We're 99% sure she invented the violin. Don't worry about it.  SENIOR MEN (48:45) Mikulak vs. Moldauer will be the best clash of nationals Who's injured, who's coming back, and who needs a big meet A period of mourning for Eddie Penev's ACL Is Yoder the new pommel prince? Will Modi keep getting Brenna'd? Who are the NCAAers to watch? Are the guys just going to phone it in because they're too cool for school? Men's European Championships (1:01:30) That bonkers team

CODE FOR LIBSYNC HERE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS THE BIG STORIES Celine van Gerner and her CATS floor routine makeup are the talk of the town. We break it all down in detail, featuring a special interview with choreographer Daymon Jones on how the routine came about. Russia hit 12-for-12 in a major team final to take gold. WHAT. Belgium pulled out of the team final after qualifying in 3rd. WHAT.  THE TEAM FINAL France takes a historic silver medal, the country's best-ever team result Netherlands wins team bronze, even without Eythora Great Britain's beam woes continue UKRAINE is back and finished 5th MORE MEDALS Boglarka Devai wins vault gold, as well as Best Reactions In a Vault Final, Melnikova takes silver, and Golgota's bronze keeps a streak alive Nina Derwael wins bars, and Adlerteg is awesome again. Will Sweden notice? On beam, the queen stays queen. Also, Nina is a beamer now! On floor, Melanie takes gold, and Axelle's Harry Potter routine is a crowd favorite. Was this one of the better choreographic

US CLASSIC Simone won, duh We detail all the quad records she set. With a fall. And a shattered toe. The upgrades – Moors, Fabrichnova, Van Leeuwen Thoughts on the weird floor scoring and her new choreography Riley McCusker was FANTASTIC Morgan Hurd's floor is a dream Why does Texas Dreams (almost) never compete AA at Classic?  Shilese Jones is a silent assassin that NBC didn't show at all A little...social media drama...you might have heard about... All the times Jessica screamed internally Jordan Chiles' wonder woman Egyptian goddess leotard Luisa Blanco's side roll Madelyn Willians musicality clinic Deanne Soza and her Yezhova PAGING CAROL: We have some bonkers scores to discuss Tom Forster's excellent performance Kerry Perry pulled a Steve Penny The bizarre, stupid USAG judge shortage The good and bad of the NBC/Olympic Channel broadcast THE ARTFUL JUNIORS The GAGE gymnasts put on a beautiful, perfect show Kayla Di Cello and Jordan Bowers are the real deal Sunisa Lee casually won beam without a d

U.S. CLASSIC PREVIEW This week, we are joined by Mary Wise of Iowa Gym Nest, coach of Adeline Kenlin, to give us some updates on Adeline's progress and help us preview the U.S. Classic! Jessica has many thoughts on IGN's decoration options How Adeline is doing in her injury recovery and preparation for Classic The IGN coaches asked questions of Kerry Perry at the Region 4 Congress. Were they satisfied with the answers, and what kind of information do the coaches want to be getting from USAG leadership? Her thoughts on Tom Forster and what we, as fans, should know about him. A Club Gym Nerd mini-commission from Sophie asks what the fans should do about this summer's competitions and how to reconcile fury at USAG—and unwillingness to give money to the organization— with a desire to ENJOY GYMNASTICS and support the gymnasts. Plus, the meet. Simone's Return AJLKJWS:LDKJS:LDKHJ:LSHLKSJHFLJSAHD Did we mention that Simone is back? Simone. The new seniors you must watch Jade Carey – all-around star? Who has the be

This week, it's a special Spencer Blogcast about the American Classic—and all associated streaming controversies. What happened? Why was it weird? And why is this nonsense entirely unsurprising coming from USAG? Plus, some routines or whatever! Playlist Jade Carey - bars Shilese Jones - vault Kara Eaker - beam, bars, floor Audrey Davis - bars Isabel Mabanta - floor Alyona Shchennikova - bars, beam Emily Lee - bars Deanne Soza - beam Madelyn Williams - bars Kayla DiCello - floor Aleah Finnegan - beam, bars SUPPORT THE SHOW Join Club Gym Nerd here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned) 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned) 311: Tom Forster Is the New Martha 310: Suspension and Sabotage 309: Perfect Form – The O'Beirne Code 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned) 307: SHAME – Congressional Hearings Edition  

This week, we have a special episode commissioned by InterGalactic Champion level Club Gym Nerd member Dee, who requested an episode all about our favorite floor routines ever! We're so, so happy to oblige. HERE is the YouTube playlist of all the routines we will be commenting on in the episode. We'll tell you when to press play, so you can watch along with us as we die of pretty (or hilarity).  Plus... The word "artistry"—how we feel about using the A word and how we personally define artistry in gymnastics floor routines  What qualities characterize our favorite floor routines Why we won't shut up about Netherlands floor The importance of keeping floor exercise weird How subjective qualities like artistry can be evaluated numerically when determining scores Why aren't choreographers the stars of gymnastics? SUPPORT THE SHOW Join Club Gym Nerd here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. FURTHER READING ON THE BALANCE BEAM SITUATION European Championships Team Selections National Team Rankings - Jul

This week, we have a special episode commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Queen Heather, who requested an episode all about memorable gymnasts and teams who finished 4th! Part 1: The official induction of the inaugural class of the 4th Place Hall of Fame, recognizing their lifetime achievement in the 4th place arts. Aly Raisman and the London tiebreak Yelena Produnova and the travesty of the 1999 vault final, where Prod finished behind Olaru and Amanar. Shang Chunsong, Anna Pavlova, Vanessa Ferrari, Beth Tweddle, and Eva Bosakova Part 2: 4th place heartbreaks Dominique Dawes and her 1993 vault (and 1994) Jordyn Wieber Jade Barbosa's 2011 vault final ankle-tastrophe Part 3: When 4th place is awesome The Japanese women's team in 2016 That time Sacramone got 4th. In the ALL-AROUND. Part 4: 4th place debates The 2008 Olympic vault final–Sacramone v. Cheng The 2000 Olympic floor final–Justice for Moya Part 5: 4th place men Kyle Shewfelt and the 2004 vault final debacle The 2012 men's team fin

GYMTERNET NEWS A mini bonus episode this week in which we discuss the latest urgent, somewhat crazy USAG developments that can't wait another moment! Thoughts on the Kerry Perry WE HAVE GREAT INSURANCE keynote from last week's episode (HOLLA Iowa Gym Nest!) and the part that...doesn't really add up? Tom Forster is the new High-Performance Team Coordinator for the US women Who is Tom Forster? Initial reactions to the announcement (like "phew" and "hrmm") The positive tone he's attempting to strike What the elite coaches think about the move How does someone who has been involved with USAG for decades convince the public that he can make change? The changes we would like to see made to the camp system (they are many and extensive) Why aren't the 2008 Olympic teams getting the traditional 10-year reunion at nationals? The "Cowboy Hat Indictments" coming out of Texas Nassar and van Horn are indicted We revisit Debbie van Horn's role Martha seems totally off the hook. Why? SUPPORT THE SHOW Join Club Gym N

IN THE NEWS To listen to audio recording of Kerry Perry's keynote address with Q&A's from Region 4 Congress go to timestamp 1:40:00 Alex Naddour has been added to the USAG list of Suspended Members (1:50) Bylaws 9.3 and 10.5 What we know from the OC Register What we make of the timing and Naddour's response Our current multitude of frustrations with USAG Brazilian Nationals SABOTAGE! (17:35) Guys. You guys. Someone cut the power lines to the venue before the second day of Brazilian Nationals so that the rest of the competition had to be canceled. We have conspiracy theories. They're excellent. National Team Coordinator (28:13) Jessica has the latest on the search for a new NTC, and it's slightly horrifying. What happened when Kerry Perry gave the keynote address at Region 4 Congress (35:02) Gymternet Things (53:46)  Larisa Iordache: 50% chance to continue with gymnastics  Laurie Hernandez to Gym-Max Marcia Frederick is suing USAG, USOC, Richard Carlson, and Muriel Grossfeld USAG appoints n

This week’s episode is commissioned by Club Gym Nerd Member Anna, who requested an episode entitled "Perfect Form," saying, "Please discuss all your favorite gymnasts with execution according to the O'Beirne Code." O'Beirne Code, you say?!?!?! Don't mind if we do. Excuse us while we casually fix all of gymnastics in a single day. You're welcome. The O'Beirne Code, defined: The intent behind the rules and integrity beyond the code Is execution a synonym for aesthetic beauty? Should it be? What is the perfect O'Beirne Code vault?  Yang Yun McKayla Maroney Simone Biles Shannon Miller 1992 Compulsory, Optional DEBATE: Is it possible for an Amanar to have "perfect" form? DEBATE: The difference between a deduction and a mistake. What is the perfect O'Beirne Code bars?  Alma Kuc Ma Yanhong Courtney McCool Brittany Rogers' Stalders, with Vanessa Zamarripa's handstands, and Alaina Johnson's Ray DEBATE: What is the more aesthetically pleasing technique for a double layout? Dumb deductions in The Code .03 for walk

This week’s episode is commissioned by Club Gym Nerd Member Emily, who asked for an episode all about the 2004 Olympic All-Around final: "This meet made me fall in love with gymnastics. SO. MANY. TEARS."  We begin this week with our 100% live, real-time commentary on the competition itself, AS WE WATCH IT. So, if you want to sync up and watch the meet along with us like the cozy little family we are, follow THIS LINK and press play when we tell you to press play. We have a heaping pile of thoughts about Khorkina (obviously), Carly, Pavlova, Romania, China, Ukraine, Le Pennec, Slater, and some of the worst leotards...just ever. After the commercial break we pick up the broadcast at the 58:17 time stamp. But that's not all! We'll also break down the epic NBC fluff (Deva castle, Round Lake-Chernobyl, Khorkina inventing hallways, reality show opening credits, a diva is magical—the usual), one of Trautwig's worst moments ever, and poor Carly's cringe-worthy appearance on Letterman following her gold medal (Part 1,

DUMPSTER FIRE NEWS Steve Penny, Rhonda Faehn, and former MSU president Lou Anna Simon appeared in front of the Senate. You can check out the searchable transcript of the hearing, Rhonda Faehn's opening statement and submitted documents, and "Martha's" written statement.  Steve Penny takes the 5th a hundred million times and then hobbles out (SHAME!), but it doesn't really matter because now we have the emails  What we learned from Rhonda Faehn's answers and submitted documents 15 people within USAG knew about Nassar (IndyStar) Who the eff is Amy White and where does she fit into the medical records moving/destroying allegations? Sarah Jantzi's submission clarifies the timeline, and the timeline is BAD for Steve Penny How everyone was kept in the dark about Fran "Some Random Lady" Sepler The very telling texts between Rhonda and Gina Nichols Rhonda was never interviewed for the Daniels report, for the FBI, for any other internal USAG investigation, or for the INDEPENDENT ROPES & GRAY report. Wait...wh

This week’s episode is commissioned by Club Gym Nerd Member Ryan, who asked for an episode all about GYMNASTICS FAILS—“the craziest, jaw-dropping-est, and most importantly hilarious instances when it simply wasn’t someone’s day—the most ridiculous falls, the wardrobe malfunctions, and infamous equipment fails. No one is off limits for gymnastics blooper reels. I want this episode to be lighthearted, nostalgic, and a reminder that gymnastics is a struggle for basically all of the human race at one point or another.” Time Stamps Gymnastics Fail Challenge (2:43) Vault and Bars (12:36) Bart Deurloo and The Case of The Wondering Nuts (34:39) Beam (38:10) Floor (55:27) Hilarious Saves (1:02:38) Wardrobe Malfunctions including Stacey Ervin and the Case of the Escaped Nut (1:06:52) Equipment Fails (1:13:20) Oops I Forgot (1:17:51) WATCH LIST Follow along as we discuss each magnificent fail, which are linked in the order in which we discuss them. Martina Rizzelli Michelle Kenney Laura Mitchell Margret Kristinsdo