GymCastic

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Archives for 2016

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234: Chris Brooks

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Chris Brooks. Photo courtesy of USA Gymnastics/Jason Lavengood

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THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEW

If you need inspiration, are a coach of a gymnast who doesn’t quite get it, or need New Year’s resolution help, this is the episode for you. Chris Brooks has been through all the things and his message is very powerful. From the great Texas gymnastics tradition, he overcame personal tragedy and a horrific injury to make the Rio Olympic team at age 29. He had grip lock as a junior, but recovered and won an NCAA Championship at Oklahoma. While in college, his father, who got him into gymnastics and was a gymnast himself, was killed in a car accident. Chris was named Olympic team alternate in 2012. Then he made the all-around final at the Rio Olympic Games just a few months before his 30th birthday. We discuss:

  • The full Cheeseburgers on Horse story
  • The famous hug between John Orozco and Chris Brooks after being named to the 2016 Olympic Team.
  • How he peaked and gave up excuses to finally make the Olympic team. 
  • Is the U.S. men’s team really not doing well or is it actually improving? 
  • Was the judging fair in Rio?
  • What does he think of the new changes to the Code of Points?
  • His grip lock accident. (Article on preventing grip lock)
  • Cheering hard: Did he ever get in trouble for being too loud?
  • What was it like being coached by Olympic Champion, Rustom Sharipov?
  • What to do about Winter Cup?
  • Does he dislike being objectified (by the screaming gym mom’s at Winter Cup)?
  • The 2015 floor faceplant.
  • Performing in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
  • His future plans. 

RELATED ARTICLES

  • Indianapolis Star Out of Balance Investigation series 

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233: Danell Leyva 2016

danell leyva silver medal rio olympics

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THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEW

Danell Leyva is back on the show (listen to his first appearance here)!  The eight-time World and Olympic medalist was the only American man to earn a medal for the U.S. at the 2012 Olympic Games with a bronze in the all-around. In 2016 he won the most medals of any American man in Rio. He did that after not even being named to the team! When John Orozco was hurt, he moved from Rio alternate to team member. He was the 2011 world champion on the parallel bars, defending silver medalist going in to 2015 Glasgow World, but failed to reach the podium. He came back a year later at the 2016 Olympics in Rio to win parallel bars and horizontal bar silver. We discuss:

  • Why dog bites are obviously good luck for him. 
  • Who should have won the Rio Olympic all-around and p-bars finals. 
  • Rio got bad press, but London had some of the same problems.
  • What he thinks of the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse allegations.
  • Being called the “temperamental Cuban American” in the pre-event finals arena video at Worlds in 2015.
  • Girlfriend Power: How he changed his mindset from Glasgow to Rio and got the joy back.
  • Being named alternate to coming home with the most medals of any U.S. male in Rio. 
  • Race and his ethnic heritage. 
  • His p-bars striptease at the Rio Olympic Gala. 
  • Was doing the post-Olympic tour worth it this time around? 
  • What was it like in the arena when Samir Ait Said (FRA) fractured his leg on vault in Rio.
  • What he would do to help the men’s team–individualize!

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  • Join Club Gym Nerd or commission an episode here 
  • Buy one of our awesome shirts here.

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Shawn Johnson’s post-Olympic tour complaint video. 

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232: Conflict of Interest

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IN THE NEWS

In the news, Uncle Tim, Spencer, and Jessica chat about:

GYMTERNET NEWS

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include (30:00):

  • Tickets for Worlds are on sale now.
  • College Fantasy Gymnastics draft is now open. It closes on December 30th.
  • The Simone Biles News: Florida, Competing in Montreal and some favorite parts from her book, “Courage to Soar.”
  • 33% of the FIG delegates wanted to maintain their conflicts of interest.
  • Laurie Hernandez reportedly made $360,00o on Dancing With The Stars. 
  • Lisa Skinner (AUS) in serious accident during her Cirque performance. 
  • USA Gymnastics Sexual Abuse Investigation:
    • Dr Larry Nassar was arrested for sexual assault of a girl (not a patient) in his house while she was between the age of 6-12. 
    • Third civil lawsuit brought against Nassar, bringing the total to three.
    • 13 women to sue Michigan State over Nassar’s alleged sex assaults.
    • The sexual abuse against cases involving professional male soccer players in the UK, reminds us that this is a worldwide problem not dependent on sex. 
    • A Way Forward for USA Gymnastics from a compliance and ethics expert. 
  • Feedback (1:15:20):
    • Ukraine episode 
    • The chocolate milk consipracy 
    • Drugs and drinking in gymnastics

CONTEST

The NorbertCastic Mini Bar & Mat Combo Contest. Vote for the winner here. 

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  • Join Club Gym Nerd here.
  • Buy one of our awesome shirts here.

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231: The Rise and Fall of Ukrainian Gymnastics

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IN THE NEWS

Karla commissioned this episode because she wants everyone “to be able to appreciate the beauty that was Ukrainian gymnastics back when artistry was expected and not shockingly rare.”  Uncle Tim, Spencer, and Jessica chat about:

  • Legacy of Champions (4:30)
  • Favorite Skills (24:31)
  • The Fall (36:50)
    • MAG Ukraine 2012 team controversy:  no bronze because of Kohei non-handstand dismount on pommel horse protest. 
    • MAG Ukraine at the 2016 Olympic Games, did not compete a full team on each event in Team Finals.
    • Stella Zakharova and the Ukrainian Federation. Her interview here. 
    • Yana Demyanchuk 2010 beam EF.
  • The Greatest Gymnast Who Never Won Anything  Except Our Hearts! (49:37)
    • Anna Mirgorodskaya: smooth and confident 80s beam and innovative bars. 
    • Olga Roschupkina wins the Everyone Else’s Side Flip is Dead To Me Now Award. 
    • Alyona Kasha gorgeous floor, tumbling and smirk. She also vaulted the rare and illusive laid out handspring front. 
    • Maria Livchikova and her insane beam. 
    • Natalia Kalinina 1990 Goodwill Games floor.
  • The Future (58:25)

CONTEST

Win Norbert’s Mini Bar & Mat Combo. Enter the contest here. 

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  • Join Club Gym Nerd here.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT UKRAINE

  • Netflix documentary “Winter on Fire” here
  • Movie coming out in February about the Holodomor (Stalin’s forced starvation) called Bitter Harvest.

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My White Daughter Wants to “Paint her Skin” to be her hero, Simone Biles, for Halloween

Simone Biles Halloween costumes from 2016.
All of these Instagram users above hashtaged their costume posts with  #SimoneBiles.

My White Daughter Wants to “Paint her Skin” to be her hero, Simone Biles, for Halloween

by Stefane Victor

We received a wonderful question from a listener with a parenting crisis. His five year-old, non-Black daughter wants to dress as Simone for Halloween. She thinks her costume won’t be complete until she is brown like Simone. She asked, “Why can’t I just paint my skin?!” The poor girl is exasperated with her parents lack of concern about her burning need to have skin that matches her heroes.

Is it wrong to paint your child’s skin black or brown for Halloween? Even if they are idolizing someone? Why is it ok to paint one’s skin green to be the Hulk or blue to be an Avatar? How to explain the history of blackface vs. dressing as your gymnastics idol to a child? GymCastic to the rescue!

First off, thanks for a really important question! I am impressed you are addressing an issue like race with your young child! Let me start by saying that I am Black and quite knowledgeable about race in America. You have the ultimate choice in matters of costume and how you want to approach dressing up. It is clear that you want to be respectful of others and so there are some things you may want to take into account as far as a Simone costume goes.

“Blackface” has been a hot topic in culture the past few years with the advent of social media. Every year a number of new intentionally hurtful costumes crop up and anger people. Some of these costumes, the extreme examples, are meant to be offensive and callous (e.g., Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman costumes). Extreme examples have been lumped in with other blackface costumes (e.g., Julianne Hough as Crazy Eyes from Orange is the New Black). If you choose to venture into cross-racial costume town, be aware of what your costume says:

  • What do the techniques used to change the color of your skin say about the people whose skin color you’ve adopted?
  • Are you admiring the person (and therefore the race to which the person belongs)?

I should note that both examples listed above received backlash. I am of the somewhat non-mainstream opinion that backlash for the latter, Crazy Eyes, was a bit undeserved. Julianne, in my opinion, darkened her skin (using a light brown tanning oil) in a manner not to radicalize or call out, but simply approach Crazy Eye’s complexion. There aren’t enough ties, in my opinion, to the historical Blackface to merit outrage.
As a refresher, Blackface allowed white actors to dress as black characters. They would cover their skin in a tar color, much darker than most skin, have enlarged lips and noses and portray Blacks as stupid, jolly, goofy, and inept. This became the black stereotype and is still part of our culture. In less extreme but almost equally insidious of cases, even when blacks weren’t made fun of, Blackface was a way to give white actors work; work that easily could have gone to black actors. Blackface is a pain point because traces of its damage still remain in our culture today.
Dressing your daughter as Simone is not a way to make fun of Simone; it’s a way to celebrate her accomplishments and beauty and that’s why you, as a great parent, want to highlight that. Especially because you have a young child, I suggest not risking anyone thinking that she could be a part of a household which holds any negative bias and I would stay away from changing the color of her skin. Think of other clever ways to distinguish your daughter from the others of the Fierce Five. She could:

  • Style her hair as Simone wore it during Olympics, complete with bow.
  • Wear the same eye makeup style Simone wore.
  • Perform some of Simone’s signature choreography or poses.
  • Wear the Biles bib number from Rio.
  • Wear 7 bazillion gold medals.
  • Carry a life-size cutout of Zac Efron.
  • Have mom or dad wear a perfectly coifed blonde wig, USA tracksuit to be coach, Aimee Boorman, while saying “It’s just gymnastics. We aren’t curing cancer here.”
  • Have a giant bee on a wire poking out from her bouquet of award flowers, “chase” her around.
  • Giggle constantly.
  • Borrow five giant German Shepherds to follow her around.
  • Recite an inspirational quote from her hero. If someone asks who she is, “I am Olympic Champion Simone Biles and I know that, ‘You make your own luck. You make it in training!’

Further reading: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dont-wear-blackface-halloween_us_5633b4dde4b06317991244ac