LISTEN HERE

WATCH HERE

Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded (pre-edits with all the flubs and hiccups) and see video of the routines we discuss. Please note that video takes longer to render so it might be up a little later than the audio podcast.

HEADLINES

• Alyssa Beckerman penned a Google Doc about the emotional manipulation, ostracism, pettiness, and mishandling of weight and injury that she experienced at UCLA under Miss Val
  • What lessons other coaches can learn about the best ways to help athletes who experienced abusive club careers
  • Does this change how we look at Miss Val’s positive coaching tour?
  • Thoughts on Miss Val’s response and whether she should have said anything at all
  • Discussed:
    • International Socio-Cultural research group on Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (ISCWAG) research and interview
    • Jenny Pinches explanation (on August 7, 2020 before Alyssa’s letter) of the #AthleteAlliance movement re coaches
    • One Face: Project Gravitas
    • Related articles on Beckerman :
      •  Beckerman questions dismissal
      • Team supports Beckerman’s dismissal
      • Out of Balance: A look inside USA Gymnastics’ culture of abuse
• More #GymnastAlliance news
  • Cassidy Hyman’s statement about elite development coordinator Dan Baker
  • Athletes speak out about Amanda Reddin, WAG head coach at British Gymnastics
• The NCAA Gym is dying
  • Alaska’s women’s program and Iowa’s men’s program will be shut down after 2021. We mourn.

MINI COMMISSION

• Erin has commissioned us to bring back fluff pieces and reimagine the non-racist, non-condescending, non-awful versions we’d like to see. Obviously, we go right to Elena Produnova, Catalina Ponor’s closet, and lesbians

GYMTERNET NEWS

• Kensley’s article on Female judges in MAG, Suni Lee’s COVID scare, an exposé of the Brazilian club Pinheiros, and what we think of the survivors’ attorneys asking the court to reject Terin Humphrey’s claim

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

• Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
• We have masks too!

RELATED EPISODES

• 437: Lineup Racism?
• 436: 2000 Women’s Team Final (Commissioned)
• 435: Let’s Talk about Terin
• 434: Svetlana Khorcanceled
• 433: Weirdest Gymnastics Exhibitions of the 90s (Commissioned)
• 432: #GymnastAlliance
• 431: 2003 Team Final (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN

LISTEN HERE

WATCH HERE

Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded (pre-edits with all the flubs and hiccups) and see video of the routines we discuss.

HEADLINES

• Are you registered to vote? Double check. Vote.org
• Texas Dreams Fallout
  • Statements from more athletes about their Texas Dreams experiences, including Ragan Smith and Macy Toronjo
  • Discussion: What responsibility do college coaches have to speak out about abusive coaching in the elite world?
• ESPN article on racism in college gymnastics
  • The details on Alabama’s Title IX investigation, and…Dana what are you doing?
  • “Skin-tone” and the NCAA demographics database
• D-D Breaux retired
  • Her epic legacy at LSU and what’s next for the team

MINI-COMMISSION

• Last week, Kennedy Baker discussed her experience with racism at Florida and mentioned the much-discussed history of Florida floor lineups. We use that as a lens for this week’s mini-commission, in which Sophie asked us to discuss NCAA lineup strategy, what each of our strategies would be if we were making lineups, and whether there’s a program that excels at lineup strategy.

GYMTERNET NEWS

• Amy Tinkler’s former coaches suspended by British Gymnastics, Memmel upgrade news, the Kathie Klages sentencing, USAG’s 5-tier system for SafeSport reports, Donnell Whittenburg’s piece for Team USA that back-up Orozo’z racism claims, Nina’s new dismount, and more

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

• Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
• We have masks too!

RELATED EPISODES

• 436: 2000 Women’s Team Final (Commissioned)
• 435: Let’s Talk about Terin
• 434: Svetlana Khorcanceled
• 433: Weirdest Gymnastics Exhibitions of the 90s (Commissioned)
• 432: #GymnastAlliance
• Best of GymCastic: The Leotard Episode
• 431: 2003 Team Final (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN

LISTEN HERE

WATCH HERE

Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded (pre-edits with all the flubbubbs and hiccups) and see video of the routines we discuss.

TEXAS NIGHTMARES

Before we get to this week’s commission, a few…erm…rage thoughts on what we’ve heard about Texas Dreams this week from Ashton Kim and Kennedy Baker.

2000 TEAM FINAL

This week’s episode was commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Casey because “it’s all fun and games until Russia goes to beam.” We discuss:

• Vault conspiracy theories. Was the vault also set incorrectly in the team final?
• Everything on beam is a Shushunova. We fight about it.
• The US team getting locked out of the arena and what it symbolizes
• Support, refute, or qualify: “Romania wins with boring gymnastics.”
• The concept of Maria Olaru
• Khorkina’s vaulting, Leonardo Da Vinci, and pumpernickel
• The importance of Liu Xuan and Ling Jie on floor
• Russia. Beam. It happened. We need to talk about it
• Dong Fangxiao’s age and the stripping of China’s bronze

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

• Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
• We have masks too!

RELATED EPISODES

• 435: Let’s Talk about Terin

• 434: Svetlana Khorcanceled
• 433: Weirdest Gymnastics Exhibitions of the 90s (Commissioned)
• 432: #GymnastAlliance
• Best of GymCastic: The Leotard Episode
• 431: 2003 Team Final (Commissioned)

• 430: Athlete A with Jennifer Sey

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN

LISTEN HERE

WATCH HERE

Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded (pre-edits with all the flubs and hiccups) and see video of the routines we discuss.

THIS WEEK

• Mark Alesia, formerly of the Indy Star and part of the team that reported the Criminal Ex-Doctor story, joins us to discuss Athlete A and #GymnastAlliance
• The Dutch federation has shut down the women’s elite program to conduct an investigation into coaching abuse. What does it all mean?
• Terin Humphrey is a survivor. We discuss reconciling that with her…other behavior and why her complaints about USAG removing her don’t really add up.
• What Terin has to say about Steve Penny trying to influence team selection
• Chellsie’s comeback – it’s officially official! We talk about her skills and her interview with the Olympic Channel
• Sam Mikulak says he will retire after the Olympics, citing a chronic wrist injury and a desire to preserve his mental health

MINI-COMMISSION

• Desirae asked us to come up with a gymnastics coaching qualification system for the US—what courses, information, and classes would we require? We have a lot of suggestions.

GYMTERNET NEWS

• A story of abuse allegations coming out of New Zealand that we have some questions about
• Australia’s Human Rights Commission is reviewing Australian gymnastics
• Some…unfortunate incidental translation issues from the FIG
• The Pac-12 football boys are making Jessica’s dreams come true
• Plus, spending the day with Aliya

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

• Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes.
• Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
• We have masks too!

RELATED EPISODES

• 434: Svetlana Khorcanceled
• 433: Weirdest Gymnastics Exhibitions of the 90s (Commissioned)
• 432: #GymnastAlliance
• Best of GymCastic: The Leotard Episode
• 431: 2003 Team Final (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN