Archives for August 2019

August 27, 2019 by Spencer Barnes Leave a Comment

383: Russians and Investigations

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GYMTERNET NEWS

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This week, we’re discussing Russians and investigations (but not Russia investigations) as the USAG dumpster fire and Russian Cup dominate the headlines.

Maggie Haney, coach of Laurie Hernandez and Riley McCusker, is under investigation for allegations of verbal and emotional abuse and pressuring athletes to compete while injured.
Anna Li denied wrongdoing and came out as a survivor as well. We discuss that timing.
- According to new reporting, USAG has been aware of allegations against Anna Li and Wu Jiani since at least 2017. At nationals, Li Li Leung said they first learned of allegations in July of this year.
Aliya Mustafina is out of worlds. Cancel it.
Jade Carey is training a triple double (and there was a broke-ass article about it that we discuss)
The qualification system for worlds in 2021-2023 is now official
The FIG has approved the raising of the uneven bars by 5cm next quad. Is this a big deal?
Junior worlds is officially a thing
The French team went to WCC again for world peace
GoFundMes for the Jamaican National Team, Marta Pihan-Kulesza and Roman Kulesza, and one we’re not going to link to.
The latest on robot judging at 2019 worlds
Moving on from elite news: Juliette Bossu, Agnes Suto-Tuuha, and Alyona Shchennikova
Read of the week: When athletes kneel, the rotten U.S. Olympic regime has no moral standing to object. A great column by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post.
Um…the Aurora Games

RUSSIAN CUP

Mustafina and Nabieva didn’t compete but it was still a meet somehow
Vladislava Urazbova is the queen of queens and everyone is dying about her triple Y.
Gerasimova is another junior heiress (and had a hilarious wolf turn too)
Melnikova is doing fine (no matter what Valentina says), Lilia Akhaimova is the star Russia needs, what is up with Maria Paseka, the Daria Spridonova renaissance, and worries that Simakova is going to get Seda-ed.
Maria Kharenkova will compete for Georgia!
Nikita Nagornyy is the champion of men and love, and other things about dudes

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August 22, 2019 by Spencer Barnes Leave a Comment

382: 2020 Olympic Qualification with Prof. Spencer

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Spencer is alone this week for a comprehensive explainer of this comically complicated 2020 Olympic qualification process, answering all the questions you were too afraid to ask because you didn’t quite understand them.

THE PROCESS

How teams qualify to the Olympics from worlds
How individuals qualify to the Olympics from worlds
WTF the “Jade Carey route” is
How the all-around world cups are different from the apparatus world cups and why they matter (AHHHHH)
Why continental championships are so important in 2020

YOUR QUESTIONS

Jade Carey?
Sub-question: Jade Carey, Jade Carey, Jade Carey?
How is the US going to qualify its fifth and sixth women to the Olympics?
What will these non-team individuals even do at the Olympics?
What should the US strategy be for that second individual spot?
How does 2-per-country work at the Olympics with all these individuals?
BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF THE US WANTS JADE CAREY ON THE TEAM OF 4?!?!?!
Could the US send MyKayla Skinner and/or Sunisa Lee to apparatus world cups?
Won’t somebody PLEASE think about Becky Downie and Epke Zonerland??? (Yes.)
What are the best chances for the US men to get extra Olympic spots?
Which countries are going to end up with 6 athletes at the Olympics?
How could this process be better? (All the ways?)

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August 13, 2019 by Spencer Barnes Leave a Comment

381: I’m Just Pissed Off Already—US Nationals Review

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US NATIONALS

SENIOR WOMEN

The saga of 6-time national champion Simone Biles
- From GOAT leos to badass quotes to “piece of shit” routines to the triple double and the double double to winning…a bowl, we dissect all things Simone
But also…this meet was weird you guys
- What happened to Riley McCusker on day 2?
- Was this whole Pan-Ams-right-into-nationals thing a bad idea?
- Morgan Hurd’s floor routines—from day 1 bizarreness to day 2 triumph
- Queen Sunisa rises above

LI LI LEUNG

The media had a 45-minute session with Li Li Leung and Kensley tells us everything she learned about new positions, the Daniels Report, bankruptcy, decertification, the Legacy Elite investigation, the Edward Nyman debacle, and the future of USAG

SENIOR WOMEN CONTINUED

Some CSI: Code of Points Unit with Leanne Wong’s floor, NCAA triumph for Trinity Thomas and MyKayla Skinner, Jordan Chiles winning the E score crown, Jade Carey Olympic qualification implications, and much more

MEN

The MOST IMPORTANT stars of the meet, like Donnell Whittenburg’s sweatband and Gage Dyer’s full-twisting butterfly
Sam Mikulak hit 12-for-12 you guys. Sam Mikulak. At nationals. Also, his pommel horse warmup is a penguin dance. FYI.
Updates on Colin Van Wicklen and Alec Yoder, our ideas for Akash Modi sponsorships, Shane Wiskus’s one-arm Cassina, why Brody Malone was left off the national team, and what the worlds team outlook is now.
Kensley talked to Brett McClure about how the Pan Ams performances were compared to nationals performances for the purposes of selection and which athletes want to go the individual world cup route
Which MAG athletes want to do floor with music
Asher Hong finally competed at nationals, and Colt Walker and Taylor Burkhart were junior champions

JUNIOR WOMEN

Kayla Di Cello and Konnor McClain in an epic fight to the finish
This meet was oddly consistent for juniors
Highlights including the unintentional soundtrack to Konnor McClain’s beam, Ariel Posen’s sissone, Sydney Morris’s back full on beam, and the beam-coach reaction cam.
Which juniors might be in the mix for Tokyo

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August 11, 2019 by GymCasticCrew Leave a Comment

Live Blog: 2019 U.S. National Championships – Women Finals, August 11th

Stay up to date with the latest happenings in Women’s Finals Competition on August 11th, 2019.

Our Live Blogging team today includes:

Kensley Behel (in the arena)
Jessica O’Beirne (surrounded by ferns)

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August 10, 2019 by GymCasticCrew Leave a Comment

CSI: Code of Points with Chellsie Memmel

Trinity Thomas (Univ. of Florida) 2019 US Championships night one. Photo courtesy of USA Gymnastics © Allison Cheng

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CSI: Code of Points with Chellsie Memmel

Post-prelims code trends and common deductions with Brevet Judge, World Champion and Olympic medalist, Chellsie Memmel of My Gym Judge

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August 10, 2019 by GymCasticCrew Leave a Comment

Live Blog: 2019 U.S. National Championships – Men Finals, August 10th

Stay up to date with the latest happenings in Women’s Day 1 Competition on August 9th, 2019.

Our Live Blogging team today includes:

Spencer Barnes (peacefully by himself on his couch)
Jessica O’Beirne (surrounded by ferns)

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August 9, 2019 by GymCasticCrew Leave a Comment

Live Blog: 2019 U.S. National Championships – Women Day 1, August 9th

Stay up to date with the latest happenings in Women’s Day 1 Competition on August 9th, 2019.

Our Live Blogging team today includes:

Kensley Behel (in the arena)
Spencer Barnes (peacefully by himself on his couch)
Jessica O’Beirne (surrounded by ferns)

*No need to refresh the page, new updates will automatically load

August 8, 2019 by Kensley Behel Leave a Comment

Moving Forward: A Conversation with Li Li Leung

Five months to the day after taking the job with USA Gymnastics, 11 news organizations were invited to take part in a sit-down interview with Li Li Leung, president and CEO of USA Gymnastics. A 20-minute retrospection of her tenure with the organization revealed that USA Gymnastics has implemented 67% of the Daniels’ report, a far cry from the 80% claimed under her predecessors. And as her predecessors attempted to silence athletes from speaking up, she welcomes it.

Leung acknowledged that survivors and athletes should be able to say what they feel and that it’s an important aspect of the healing process. The room was solemn as aspects of bankruptcy, mediation, and current complaints were addressed, but solemnity is needed. In trying to strike a balance between truth and sympathizing with survivors—and moving the sport forward—Leung noted the need to acknowledge the past and pushing forward with a cultural shift.

Part of that cultural shift includes opening a position for Vice President of Athlete Health and Wellness. She is looking to help athletes succeed in life after gymnastics as well by equipping them with tools focused on safety, accountability, integrity, listening, respect and transparency. “These values will guide us in how we operate on a day to day basis,” Leung shared, and will be delivered in part through tailored programs to educate athletes, coaches, parents and club owners; that is, assuming there is still an organization.

The uncertainty concerning the survival of USA Gymnastics (USAG) is also painfully evident, but the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee has outlined four areas in which they need to see USAG succeed to retain their role as the NGB: Leadership stability, Financial stability, Athlete safety, and Rebuilding Trust in the community. This begs the question, how can trust in the community be built when there are pending allegations against current coaches on the floor? Regarding Anna Li and her mother Jiani Wu, she said:

“There are complaints against Anna and her mother. Those complaints are currently being investigated, they are currently under the [US] Center’s [SafeSport] jurisdiction. There has been no conclusion on the investigation… We need to wait for investigative process to be completed before action can be taken. If we believe there is imminent danger to any athlete, we will take an interim measure. In this case, it doesn’t appear there is imminent peril to any athlete. Every complaint that we get, we are 100 percent proactive on. I know sometimes it doesn’t appear that way. There has to be due diligence and due process in this investigative process. We can’t rush that because we have to get it right. I understand when you say optically it might not look great, but things are happening behind the scenes. They are happening and we need to let them happen.”

She also clarified that Scott Reid of the Orange County Register reported that there were complaints against Anna before she was appointed as an Athlete representative, which she vehemently denied. “Anna, she was voted in by current athletes in June. And then, in July is when the complaints were filed.”

Further questions were presented about the hiring of Edward Nyman. The position Nyman was hired for was scoped four months before Leung took the position at USAG and the hiring process was 80-90% finished before she arrived. She owned her mistake noting that she should have put the breaks on that hire. In doing better and in looking towards the future, Leung said no stone will be unturned for future hires, but some stones that still need to be uncovered belong to the past.

Robert Andrews, a psychologist who had previously worked with the men’s national team athletes revealed that scores were changed leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games, allowing for certain athletes to make the team. Leung has spoken with Robert and has helped to implement an independent observer position for future team selection processes to help regain trust in how teams are selected.

When challenged about how “independent” the observer would be considering the insular nature of the gymnastics community, Leung said, “This person will not come from the gymnastics community. That’s how we’re kind of keeping the walls up in a way in terms of keeping independence. I understand, you’re right, our community is very insular. One of the pieces around the selection procedures is that the independence part was really important to me and we did have discussions whether or not this independent observer should come from the community or not and in the end, we decided this person should not come from the community because there could always be that bias if they do come from the community.”

Even still, a cloud of distrust hangs in the air regardless of all these measures. There are still those too afraid to come forward among all disciplines. It was suggested that USAG hire an outside epidemiologist to perform quantitative and qualitative data analysis of past and current problems in the community. Leung was open to it.

The openness to change, the willingness to admit mistakes, and the vision and plan for the future left a lining of hope for those involved in the interview. Where that hope and where Leung’s direction will lead, we don’t know, but we do know the gymnastics community is watching.

August 8, 2019 by Kensley Behel Leave a Comment

Junior WAG and MAG Podium Training Interview

The 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championship is going to open in the most thrilling way possible; it’s going to open with Sydney Barros on Floor. 2019 Jr. World Team Member has one of the most exciting floor routines of the century. Self-described as sassy fun, and inviting, Barros says that she looks at the crowd during the performance to invite them in. Choreographed by Dominik Zito and Kim Zmeskal, this routine represents Sydney. Kansas City spectators are in for a treat.

2019 Jr. World Vault Champion and three-time medalist at this years’ jr. world championships has set a goal of improving her routines from the GK Classic and making the national team this year. She’s adding in a double lay full-out on floor to aid her chances of retaining her current spot on the national team. After placing 4th in the AA at the Junior World Championships, she is one to challenge for the AA title here in Kansas City.

Coming off her GK Classic All-Around Championships win, Konner McClain isn’t looking to put pressure on herself, she just wants to stay calm. After some disappointment by just barely missing the World Championship team, she has worked on staying focused and calm throughout her competition performances. Though she was the traveling alternate, she did get to participate in the banquet at the World Championships and several members sent her a message congratulating her on her win. Other notable athletes like Morgan Hurd and Aly Raisman have used their spare time to nurture their hobbies like reading and fashion. They aren’t alone. McClain spoke openly about her love of make-up and said she may start a youtube channel.

While many of the junior women competing this weekend have multiple social media profiles with followers in the multi-thousands, the most anticipated junior gymnast in Kansas City has no social media. Asher Hong grew in popularity at the 2017 Winter Cup where he beat college students at the age of 13. Standing barely higher than the chalk bucket, his beautiful lines and clean gymnastics won over thousands of fans. Coming in as the reigning J.O. National Champion (15 year old division), he is expected to challenge for the 15-16 All-Around title.

His former teammate, current Oklahoma Sooner, and reigning J.O. National Champion (18 year old division), Laz Barnhill is also expected to challenge for the 17-18 title. Transitioning to the University of Oklahoma has brought a set of inspirations and challenges. He described the transition as going from the big fish in a big pond to a small fish in an even bigger pond. Even so, training in the bigger pond provides daily motivation as he trains under the same coach and in the same gym as Olympic and World medalists.

The future is bright with these athletes

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August 8, 2019 by GymCasticCrew Leave a Comment

Live Blog: 2019 U.S. National Championships – Men Day 1, August 8th

Stay up to date with the latest happenings in Men’s Day 1 Competition on August 8th, 2019.

Our Live Blogging team today includes:

Kensley Behel (in the arena)
Spencer Barnes (peacefully by himself on his couch)
Jessica O’Beirne (surrounded by ferns)

*No need to refresh the page, new updates will automatically load