LISTEN HERE
IN THE NEWS
In the news, Uncle Tim, Dvora and Jessica chat about:
- Russia has not been banned as a country, but the FIG must decide on individuals. (3:00)
- Valentina has declared Ksenia Afanasyeva retired, might not be true but Afan is out.
- Kuksenkov was cleared of all Meldonium doping charges earlier this year and is in Rio.
- Marta Karolyi Press Conference (9:25)
- We’ve decided Rhonda Faehn and Simone Biles/Aimee Boorman have started working Marta’s mouth like a puppet because she held an open practice and even said the gymnasts must all be trained as individuals! Praise the gym gods!
- Germany, Steingruber Win in Chemnitz (14:00)
- Sophie Scheder scored a 15.25 on bars (better at German Nationals with 15.5 which ranked her 8th in the World)
- Catalina Ponor scored a 14.700 on VT in Chemnitz. She outscored Larisa Iordache (FX, double Y turn immediate illusion turn!) on every event (except bars, which Ponor didn’t do)
- Ponor has a full twisting DLO
- Ponor took on her haters on Instagram–straight up Gabby Douglas style.
- Insane Skill Alerts (17:40)
- Kirsten Polderman (NED) switch-half Dick. What should the Dick Half be rated?
- Will Sae Miyakawa (JPN) compete her front full to double front on the Gymnova floor in Rio?
- Artem Dolgopyat (ISR) is doing a triple back.
- Takahiro Goshima (JPN) doing a back 3.5 to punch 2.5; He can also do a front 3.5 but he won’t be in Rio.
- A History of Political Protests in Gymnastics (27:45)
- Are political protests allowed by the IOC and what are the rules about free speech for athletes?
- Vera Caslavska (CZE) wasn’t punished for her protest against the Soviets by the IOC but Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled from the Games.
- 1991 World Championships, Kuwait’s thank you t-shirts.
- Statements by gymnasts that could have been taken as protest speech.
- Politically charged uniforms: Korea vs. Japan’s rising sun throwback flag leotards.
- Black Lives Matter (56:30)
- Should the US gymnastics team be prepared to answer questions about Black Lives Matter?
- Rio Olympic Athlete Village update. (1:02:00)
- Dvora’s experience interviewing Oksana Chusovitina and Svetlana Boginskaya for Elle magazine.
- Khorkina “Biles will always be second.”
- Maggie Nichols continues to be a shining light of joy.
INTERVIEW
Because the end of the quad is a time for competitive retirements and new artistic beginnings, we have a little glimpse into a gym nerd dream job with the casting director of Le Rêve, Louanne Madorma. (1:17:19)
- They have self-taught, level 8 and Olympians all in the show, there are knitting circles and dance contests, but unfortunately it’s nothing like the movie DreamGirls.
- Louanne was in the roller-skating sensation, Starlight Express, and has hilarious blooper stories.
- The Wynn hotel, where Le Reve lives, pays for college at nearby UNLV!
- Contact Louanne Madorma at Le Rêve casting here.
- Listen to Jessica’s review of Le Rêve in episode 41 here.
CONTEST
Win: The End of the Perfect 10: The Making and Breaking of Gymnastics’ Top Score – from Nadia to Now by Dvora Meyers
What: Write a new rule for the next quad
How: #Endofthe10Book @GymCastic on Instagram or Twitter
Deadline: Sunday, July 31st at midnight.
SUPPORT THE SHOW
- Join Club Gym Nerd here.
- Buy one of our awesome apparel, notebooks, wall art, mugs, or cases here.
- Geek out about all the press coverage the podcast is getting and how much our interview quotes are being used by browsing our super impressive GymCastic In The News page here.
RELATED EPISODES
- 2016 Olympic Team and Coaches
- Episode 33: Simone Biles & Her Coaches
- 161: Women’s Finals Recap with Aimee Boorman and Christian Gallardo
- Episode 77: Aly Raisman
- Episode 41: Laurie Hernandez & Coach Maggie Haney
- 151: Danell Leyva
- Episode 32: Sam Mikulak & 2013 Men’s NCAA Championships
- 2014 Winter Cup: Chris Brooks on Broken Bones, Blaniks, and Rio
- Episode 35: Jake Dalton
- 72: John Orozco
- 187: McKayla Maroney
- 206: The Russian Situation
- 201: Men’s Olympic Trials and P&G Champs Preview
- Gymbuster: Domestic vs. International Scoring
- 200: Alicia Sacramone
- 162: Wrap Up of the 2015 P&G Championships
- 160: PG Championships Women’s Prelims Recap
- Episode 48: Kyla Ross
- Episode 58: Charlotte Drury, Fall Euro Series & NCAA De-commits
- Episode 31: Elise Ray
- 148: Shannon Miller
- Episode 28: Kristen Maloney
- Episode 55: Worlds Wrap Up & Ferlito-Gate
- Episode 54: Event Finals Recap from 2013 World Championships
- Episode 53: All Around Finals Recap from Antwerp World Championships
- Episode 52: Triumph & Heartbreak Prelims Recap from Antwerp Worlds
- 114: Fallout From Gymnastike’s Handling of Maroney Hack & Tumble Episodes 3 and 4 with special guest Jenni Pinches!
- Episode 16: Elizabeth Price
- 146: Taylor Rice and The 2015 NCAA Championships
- Episode 9: Chellsie Memmel, Swiss Cup & FIG Presidential Proposals
- Episode 37: Julie Zetlin
- 81: Jenny Hansen
- Episode 15: Joan Ryan Author of Little Girls in Pretty Boxes
- Douglas Family Gold on Oxygen Podcast Recaps
RELATED VIDEOS
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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For your viewing pleasure 🙂
SAE MIYAKAWA – FX – QUALS – GYMNIX 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2kATVmLtW0
Another political statement in gymnastics involves the Romanian revelution in the late-1980’s. They wore “V’s” on their leotards, which stands for Victory.
Young boy gymnasts are showing up to meets, especially big ones like State and Regional meets, with fancy hair: dyed to match their leotards, or with things shaved in the side. My son like to get a shooting star cut into his for meets (the word \”star\” appears in his gym\’s name). We joke in the stands about instituting a \”best hair\” award at boys\’ meets.
Sam Mikulak\’s American flag haircut is making my kid and his teammates go nuts. His second-most-numberous fanbase (after slightly-creepy gym moms with excessive affection for his abs, and just barely edging ahead of gay men with excessive affection for his abs) is boy gymnasts, and they love it.
Yesterday I saw an interesting documentary on Belgian tv about Nadia and the Romanian system. I have found a link to the documentary: http://www.canvas.be/video/nadia-comaneci-the-girl-who-wanted-to-fly. However, it is only available in Belgium, but you might be able to watch it through a VPN.
Going to the Khorkina vs Biles debate, this is a very conflictive topic because there have been so many greats over the years.
I think it will always come down to opinion and who stands out for you. For me, Lilia Podkopayeva has always been a big standout for me, she may not have won as many medals as Khorkina or Biles but she was \”the gymnast\” of her quad and just her gymnastics in general was just pure poetry.
Khorkina will always think that she\’s the greatest gymnast of all time and she\’s entitled to think so, but I don\’t think there ever will be a final answer to this question because there have been so many great gymnast and most likely we will witness more great gymnasts to come in the future.
Are you guys still going to pick a winner for the \”ten skills\” contest? I\’m just wondering because the deadline for submission has already passed and you guys haven\’t talked about it.
Just a point that \”free speech\” laws only apply to the government. So the First Amendment only prevents the state and federal government from restricting speech (minus certain prohibitions that have been deemed justified for reasons of safety, etc.). So USAG, as a non-governmental body has every right to restrict it\’s members speech in any way that it deems fit.