Stay up to date with the latest happenings at the 2020 WOGA Classic – Liukin Invitational.
Our Live Blogging team today includes:
Kensley Behel (in the arena)
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Archives for January 2020
409: Falling with Style
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OLYMPIC QUALIFIER NEWS
- The American Cup rosters are out. We delve into the crazy-deep men’s field, some of the surprises of the women’s field, and what this means for Olympic qualification.
- Jade Carey is going to Melbourne. How does this affect the race for the apparatus spots?
COLLEGE MEET NEWS
- Kensley went to Metroplex. She shares how loud it was (very) and observations from a civilian gym viewer.
- LSU/Florida was INTENSE: We break down the 10s, amazing meets from Trinity Thomas and Ruby Harrold, and the injury to Sarah Edwards
- Plus, Lexy Ramler got a 10 again, what not to do when someone is trying to vault, and Derrian Gobourne showed everyone how to fall
- Crack or Correct takes on the phenomenon that is Michigan home scoring
CLUB GYM NERD MINI-COMMISSION
- It’s Jessica’s dream come true: a commission about Cuba!
- We cover the highs (Artistic integrity! Originality! Annia! The Tamayo!) and the lows (federation mismanagement and funding issues) that characterize the history and legacy of Cuban gymnastics
THERE’S MORE
- Gymternet News: The latest in Russia’s Olympic ban saga, Kristina Baskett, the NCAA doing something good (???), and various dumpster fire developments
- Feedback: We weigh in on whether the price is worth it for the experience of going to Olympic Trials
- We’re Still Doing This?: The argument is back on about the 10.0 in men’s college gymnastics
SUPPORT THE SHOW
- Join Club Gym Nerd here for access to Behind the Scenes episodes from national camp.
- Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
FURTHER READING
- Week 4 Rankings January 27, 2020
- Things Are Happening – January 24, 2020 January 24, 2020
- The 10s of Week 3 January 21, 2020
RELATED EPISODES
- 408: Jessica Goes to Camp
- Behind The Scenes: Laurie Hernandez Interview
- Behind The Scenes: Simone Biles Interview
- Behind The Scenes: Day One of the 2020 National Team Training Camp
- 407: Crown Watch 2020
- 406: BRENNNNAAAAAAA!!!!
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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408: Jessica Goes to Camp
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NATIONAL TEAM CAMP
Jessica attended the first national team camp of the year in Indianapolis. We discuss:
- Simone’s injury status, mental blocks, new book, and what grade she’d give USAG
- The most important upgrades…that we’re allowed to talk about
- Olympic team predictions 6 months early and based on exactly two practices
- The best floor routine in the history of all the evers
- Laurie Hernandez Watch
- Atmosphere changes compared to the past
- Kitty litter boxes for some reason
- REMEMBER: Join Club Gym Nerd for three full Behind The Scenes episodes just from camp with interviews from Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker and Jordan Chiles. And more to come.
NCAA NEWS
- We break down the furor over Oklahoma’s scoring this weekend
- Crack or Correct? (And a little Crack or Crack?)
- Spencer’s Crack Den on “You need to have a name to get a big score.”
- Plus, justice for Lexy Ramler (FINALLY), a Shchennikova update, the Stevens, and records for Minnesota, Cal, Rutgers, and Alaska
GYMTERNET NEWS
- The Michigan AG and police raided Geddert’s house and Twistars. Would you look at that.
- The sexual assault charge against Debbie Van Horn was dropped for insufficient evidence
- Maggie Haney’s hearing was postponed again
- Plus, Sunisa’s upgrade and Isabela Onyshko is going to Stanford!
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FURTHER READING
- The 10s of Week 3 January 21, 2020
- Keeping Up With the Cool GIFs – Week 3 January 20, 2020
- Week 3 Rankings January 20, 2020
RELATED EPISODES
- Behind The Scenes: Laurie Hernandez Interview
- Behind The Scenes: Simone Biles Interview
- Behind The Scenes: Day One of the 2020 National Team Training Camp
- 407: Crown Watch 2020
- 406: BRENNNNAAAAAAA!!!!
- 293: EXCLUSIVE Inside Elite Verification
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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Behind The Scenes: Laurie Hernandez Interview
Behind The Scenes: National Team Training Camp – Day 3 Laurie Hernandez Interview Jessica is in Indianapolis for the final day (that media were allowed to attend) of national team training camp. In today’s episode, Jessica talks to Laurie Hernandez, Sunisa Lee, Riley McCusker and Jordan Chiles. We also talk about the breaking news that […]
Behind The Scenes: Simone Biles Interview
Behind The Scenes: National Team Training Camp – Day 2 Simone Biles Interview Jessica is in Indianapolis for day two of national team training camp. Today Jessica interviewed Simone Biles and talked with Scott Bregman of the Olympic Channel who is a former USA Gymnastics employee. Scott talked about the changes in this camp atmosphere […]
Behind The Scenes: Day One of the 2020 National Team Training Camp
Behind The Scenes: National Training Camp – Day 1 It’s after midnight here in Indy and we have been working hard to get your Behind The Scenes episode up! Jessica is in Indianapolis for the next three days of camp to watch the training and to interview athletes and their coaches. Today Jessica interviewed athletes including Kara Eaker and Riley McCusker. […]
407: Crown Watch 2020
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NCAA MEET NEWS
- LSU defeats Georgia – we break down the Alyona Shchennikova 0.000 and whether you should be worried about Georgia and LSU
- Even Spencer has no complaints about Denver/Minnesota
- Auburn defeats Alabama, Derrian Gobourne has a crown now, Luisa Blanco is a college beamer, and Jessica has a controversial prediction
- Anyone who’s anyone is finishing high school early to join college teams. How do we feel about this?
- Jordyn Wieber made her head coaching debut at Arkansas, coupled with a mini-commission from Jennifer about what certain college programs are getting right
- Two (count ’em two) rage-o-meters from Club Gym Nerd members
CRACK OR CORRECT SPECIAL EDITION
- Taylor Houchin’s stuck Y1.5
- Mia Takekawa’s 10 on beam
- Final rotation insanity from LSU/Georgia that was so bad it broke Kathy and Bart
- UCLA’s bananas floor rotation
- Spencer’s Crack Den answers the question: Why did Norah Flatley get 9.350 for a beautiful routine?
- Watch: All the routines that got a 10 from at least one judge this weekend
GYMTERNET NEWS
- It’s Agnes Keleti’s birthday!
- Aurora Fyre Festival Games developments
- …Terin Humphrey did a book
- Cardboard beds at the Olympics
JESSICA GOES TO CAMP
- Jessica is going to the January national team camp! We’ll have special Behind the Scenes episodes from camp just for Club Gym Nerd members where we whisper about what happened. You can join Club Gym Nerd here.
RELATED EPISODES
- 406: BRENNNNAAAAAAA!!!!
- 405: The Best of 2019
- 404: 2008 Men’s Team Final (Commissioned)
- 403: “Did Everyone Know But Me?”
- 402: 1984 NCAA Championships (Commissioned)
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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406: BRENNNNAAAAAAA!!!!
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BRENNA DOWELL (4:00)
Continuing our now two-year-old tradition of beginning the NCAA season by asking the final person to compete for last year’s winning team to be our first guest of the new year, today we are delighted to be joined by Brenna Dowell! We discuss that vault from championships, leaving NCAA to pursue elite and coming back again, having that story depicted in a movie, GAGE and its GAGEness, Italian culinary adventures, her future plans, and that time she wasn’t allowed to train with the team at 2015 Worlds.
MEET NEWS (40:22)
Jessica and Spencer attended the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, and we have a lot to say about
- Ragan Smith Joy Watch
- Crack or Correct: Alexis Vasquez’s beam 10.000
- The trend for 2020: walking off the floor in an extra fashion
- Obsessions named Samantha Sakti, Alma Kuc, Chloe Widner, and Nevaeh DeSouza
- A feelings moment that Jessica missed so Spencer has to talk about. UGH.
- Plus elsewhere: WTF happened to LSU, meeting the judges in the bathroom, injury news, and Spencer’s Crack Den delves into why we saw some…9.6s?…even from top teams…?
GYMTERNET NEWS (1:34:53)
- The FIG kind of actually did something helpful?
- Alexa Moreno and Simone Biles received some Best Person awards (duh)
- What’s happening with the AG investigation of Michigan State
- USAG staffing news
- A gymternet marriage shout-out!
FURTHER READING
- Week 1 Rankings January 6, 2020
- SCORE WATCH 2020 December 31, 2019
SUPPORT THE SHOW
RELATED EPISODES
- 403: “Did Everyone Know But Me?”
- 402: 1984 NCAA Championships (Commissioned)
- 401: The Forster House Rules
- 400: 2024 Fantasy Compulsories (Commissioned)
- 399: CHUSO! (Commissioned)
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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What is the German Bundesliga System?
When the 2019 World Gymnastics Championships came to a close on October 13th in Stuttgart, Germany the competition season for the German team didn’t end. A little over a month later on November 30th was the Bundesliga Finale, just outside of Stuttgart in Ludwigsburg. The first thing you need to know is that the German gymnasts compete under two different systems: The German Gymnastics Federation and the German Gymnastics League. The German Federation is responsible for choosing athletes to compete in international events, but the German Gymnastics League is the one responsible for managing the Bundesliga system. This article will provide insight into the men’s gymnastics Bundesliga system.
What is the German Bundesliga system?
The German Bundesliga (literally translated as Federal League) is a system where professional and semi-professional athletes compete in various sports including: gymnastics, soccer, ice hockey, and basketball, among others. It’s important to note that though they all use the term, Bundesliga, the systems are not interrelated. The German gymnastics Bundesliga system, currently referred to as the Deutsche Turnliga, was created in 1968 with eight teams. However, the women’s gymnastics league was not created until 2008.
How many gymnastics leagues are there in the Bundesliga system?
There are 11 leagues. There is one 1st league, two 2nd leagues, two 3rd leagues, and a handful of other regional leagues. They could be compared by level to DI, DII, DIII, and Club Sport teams in the United States, accordingly.
Have any Americans competed in the Bundesliga system?
Yes! Alex Bubnov, Matt Felleman, Kanji Oyama, Michael Reid, and Colin van Wicklen just to name a few.
Why do gymnasts from other countries compete in the German system?
Unlike the United States, Germany has a professional and semi-professional league that allows gymnasts to be paid. The German system requires a tactic beyond creating line-ups each week that increases the intensity of the sport. Gymnasts from all over the world including: Oleg Verniaev, Sam Oldham, Bram Verhofstad, Courtney Tulloch, Artur Dalaloyan, and Nikita Nagornyy have all competed for the German Bundesliga.
Is there a roster cap?
A maximum of 15 gymnasts can compete for each team.
What is the format of the competition?
Similar to the NCAA format, teams go head-to-head in a dual-meet format. In the Bundesliga, teams flip a coin to decide who goes first. On each of the apparatuses only four gymnasts compete for each team. Of those four, there must always be more German gymnasts in a rotations than foreign gymnasts; therefore, only one foreign gymnast is allowed to compete per apparatus.
| Duel 1: | A1 vs. B1 |
| Duel 2: | A2 vs. B2 |
| Duel 3: | B3 vs. A3 |
| Duel 4 | B4 vs. A4 |
The teams rotate in Olympic order and no gymnast may be used twice on the same apparatus. Unlike the NCAA or other elite meets, there is no set lineup, therefore creating a need for strategy. Every decision for which gymnast will compete is made mere seconds before they actually compete. These head-to-head battles are referred to as duels. The question is, do you use your best gymnast first, or do you save them in case your opponent saves their best gymnast for last?
For simplicity sake, the format of the competition will be explained using team TSV Pfuhl and team TG Saar. If TSV Pfuhl won the toss, they would send up a gymnast to compete on floor first. Next, TG Saar would choose a gymnast to match. In the second round of the first apparatus, TSV Pfuhl would again choose a gymnast first and then TG Saar would choose gymnast to match.
Halfway through the round, the order switches. After two gymnasts, then TG Saar would choose the 3rd gymnast on floor and then TSV Pfuhl would need to choose an opponent. And again for the fourth duel, TG Saar would choose first with TSV Pfuhl choosing the final opponent.
The team order throughout the competition is as follows: Floor: Team A; Pommel Horse: Team B; Rings: Team A; Vault: Team B; P Bars: Team A; and High Bar: Team B.
| Less than .15 | = | 0 points |
| From 0.15 to .25 | = | 1 point |
| From 0.30 to .50 | = | 2 points |
| From 0.55 to 1.0 | = | 3 points |
| From 1.05 to 2.0 | = | 4 points |
| From 2.05 to 6.0 | = | 5 points |
| More than 6.05 | = | 10 points |
What scoring system do they use?
For individual scores, they use the FIG scoring system; however these scores in their original format are not used to tally a team score. Since 2004, a point system was introduced to create an overall team score. The score for the team is generated by the head-to-head duel match between two gymnasts. There are a total of 10 points up for grabs. The scores are calculated by the difference in the FIG scores per duel.
The 10 points available are not split between the two teams. It’s a “winner-take-all” system where the amount given to the winner is solely determined on the difference in scores between the winner and loser of the duel.
How are teams ranked within the league?
Teams are ranked by their overall scores totaled throughout the season.
Are the Bundesliga gymnasts paid?
Yes, gymnasts are paid to compete in the Bundesliga system. In some instances, the top gymnasts can earn as much as $30,000 for the season. Additionally, their travel and housing expenses are also provided for them.
How can I participate?
If you are interested in participating in the German Bundesliga, you can contact info@deutsche-turnliga.de to receive more information.
When was the Final and how can I watch?
The 2019 final was on November 30th in Ludwigsburg. The competition can be found at sportdeutschland.tv.
Interested in learning more about the German Bundesliga? Check out their website at www.deutsche-turnliga.de.
Article by: Kensley Behel
