Episode

300: Jesolo and Tokyo for the Brave 300

April 17, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

LISTEN HERE

MEET NEWS

Jesolo! (3:00)

Emma Malabuyo is the new queen of Italy
Ragan Smith returns for first competition since worlds qualification
Adeline Kenlin is officially a national treasure
BRAZIL!
- Flavia is back and being so perfectly Flavia that line judges just ignore OOBs
- Jade Barbosa is partying like it’s 2007
Romania had two whole people (neither named Larisa) who hit bars at the same time
Elena Gerasimova has speed, backward shoulder rolls, and a wolf turn fake-out for the ages
Vladislava Urazova‘s asymmetrical braid took the juniors by storm
SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMEDY
- Liu Jinru with the most preposterous 3/1 + punch front in Chinese history
- Perebinosova got caught in a twister and Eleonora Afanasyeva body slammed herself
- Lara Mori’s vault run is a victory in itself
- Desiree Carofiglio’s Popeye shuffle is the highlight of the whole competition
The Jesolo award ceremony is a psychotic meltdown with surreal fever-dream trophies

Tokyo! (53:48)

When the Olympic Channel freaked everyone out for a second
Jackson Payne injured himself on floor and then vaulted a handspring rather than withdraw from the meet. We discuss why
MAI IS NOT MESSING AROUND
Trinity Thomas is confident and consistent even though gymnastics isn’t her whole life (WHAA?)
Simakova’s unexpected vault and super, mega extra pre-floor wind-up doll presentation
Kenzo is back in Japan and Sam Mikulak has a new Achilles, so everything is OK again
RAGE-O-METER ABOUT NIPPLES

GYMTERNET NEWS (1:23:20)

Is MSU interim president John Engler even worse? (Yes.)
Norah Flatley and Rachel Baumann have officially signed with NCAA teams!
NCAA nationals are this weekend! Who are the favorites, who’s going to pull off the upset, and what are our wild dreams for the competition? We discuss.
The best possible thing a dad has ever cheered from the stands in a meet.

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299: When Sabrina and Rhys Became Legends

April 10, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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MEET NEWS

NCAA regional competition has narrowed 36 teams down to 12. We break down the goodies and baddies from all six meets. (6:25)

Tuscaloosa – Georgia upsets Michigan!
- Beam Hero Sabrina Vega’s long road from 2011 worlds (which was SEVEN years ago you guys)
- Illinois’s against-the-odds amazing season
- …what’s the deal with Michigan?
Minneapolis
- The beauty Olympics!
- Kentucky makes nationals as a team for the FIRST TIME EVER
- The NCAA writing staff got the individual all-around qualifiers exactly right this season
Salt Lake City
- PHEW! Elizabeth Price qualified for the all-around
- The legacy of Jenny Hansen and Kelly Garrison
- Auburn’s unfortunate record of missing nationals with really high scores
Columbus
- OK. We HAVE to talk about that 0.1 ND for UCLA on vault
- Bowling Green! Jovannah East qualifies to nationals and India McPeak makes history
- Feedback about how you should be able to CHEER at a damn SPORTING EVENT like a NORMAL PERSON
Raleigh
- The one that was supposed to be close and exciting. And then Nebraska was like, “No.”
- Is being the parent of a former team member a judging conflict of interest?
- Morgan Lane and Cami Drouin-Allaire qualified and it’s all because of us. You’re welcome.
University Park
- In which Jessica gets distracted by the hotness of the Florida coaching staff. Again.

The US women’s elites gathered at World Champions Centre for another verification competition to decide the team for Pac Rims. (1:10:08)

The team: Grace McCallum, Morgan Hurd, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, Kayla DiCello, Jordan Bowers
- How we feel about selecting the team based solely on AA standings at verification
- Why live video and releasing scores leads to less criticism of the athletes, not more
- Why Ashton and Simone did not participate
- The future of a national team training center

Not to be ignored…Commonwealth Games! (1:25:53)

The Canadian women erase the pain of 2016 (and 2014)
The dream of an all-Georgia bars final is alive
Which Pixar movie Australia reminds Spencer of this week
Marios Georgiou is Cypriot Yul Moldauer
Rhys McClenaghan won pommel horse and dismounted in tears and made history and it’s all too much for Jessica to handle

GYMTERNET NEWS

We play another rousing game of “What Lie Was USAG Caught In This Week?” (1:35:10)

How USAG is trying to wriggle out of intentionally omitting the truth to the Senate in February about not using non-disclosure agreements because turns out…it did.
- Two women were horrifically sexually abused by a coach, who was banned, and then USAG did its thing: “Instead of protecting me, they fought me. Instead of believing me, they harassed me. They were trying to discredit me, trying to shame me, saying I was just after USAG’s money.”
- RAGE-O-METER: USAG’s absolutely unconscionable response

And then better news!

Irina Alexeeva is out of citizenship purgatory and is going to compete at the Russian Championship!
Trinity Thomas is going to Florida and announced it in the best way possible (at the age of 17).
SIMMMMMONNNNNNNNNEEEEEEE. But, like, SIMONE. Simone.
- VAULT UPGRADES WHAT????

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298: Geddert and Karolyis Rage-O-Meter Special

April 3, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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GYMTERNET NEWS

A CNN investigation into John Geddert spoke with seven gymnasts/families about their experiences with him, and it wasn’t pretty
- Physical abuse, verbal abuse, suicide attempts
- Police complaints dating back to 1986
- A letter to USAG in 2013 detailing the problems
- Steve Penny KNEW and chose to do nothing. Because publicity.
CNN also has the May 2017 Karolyi depositions. They aren’t pretty either.
- Apparently the Karolyis had very little to do with the ranch and barely ever met or talked to Larry Nassar. Huh?
- It was all USAG’s and Kathy Kelly’s fault
- “I wanted them to be safe, but…”
Nassar’s boss, William Strampel, has been arrested for insane 1970s sexual misconduct. That’s the official charge.
Those two MSU trainers who were informed about Nassar and did nothing still work there
MSU spent $500K in January monitoring social media accounts of Nassar survivors and journalists. We definitely can’t think of a better use for that money
USAG Athlete Assistance Fund application and the Saving Our Survivors Fund

And in actual gymnastics developments: (1:05:38)

The drama over the English Commonwealth Games team deepens
Cuba is in the Pacific now, and we’re all for it
Giulia Steingruber is playing around with a Yurchenko double back

MEET NEWS (49:08)

We break down the key storylines to watch at this Saturday’s NCAA regionals and rage about the scheduling and individual qualification rules, as per usual
Professor O’Beirne, PhD brings us a history lesson on the origins of the Commonwealth Games, and we get excited about Wales and dragons.

FEEDBACK (1:11:13)

Why can’t women do NCAA and elite at the same time?
Primary source material about the sound in the Georgia Dome
When a floor routine might also be a tornado warning
A long-time brevet judge on how we can fix NCAA (and USAG) judging
2-hour awards ceremonies (WHATTTT??) and plans for a parent revolt!

Live Show at NCAAs

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297: The Jig of Victory

March 27, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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This week, Jessica and Spencer are joined by Craig Zappa from ENA in Paramus, the coach of Olivia Dunne, who is here to tell us all about Olivia’s progress and preparations for Jesolo, how that whole Jesolo-as-individuals thing came about, how he felt about the live stream of verification (total scores), and to join our discussion of all the major news of the week—while Jessica definitely oversells Olivia’s new floor routine and loses it about the cuteness of Cory the Gym Dog.

MEET NEWS

NCAA Conference Championships!
- The Pac-12 and SEC Championships were…not great?
- Crack or Correct: Was UCLA held up by the judges?
- Beam perfection—Kiana Winston and Alyssa Baumann edition
- Peng Peng Lee continues to make history (Six more years! Six more years! Peng 2024!)
- The SEC Network Gymnerd dream feed (and what NBC could learn…)
Conference Championships RAGE-O-METERS
- Gun sound effects. Other sound effects exist, people. Jessica has suggestions
- Always change the camera angle to the FRONT of the gymnast. #ButtCloseupsNever
- Don’t just pick a hot woman in the stands and constantly show her over and over
- Spencer pleads for basic addition skills on broadcasts because he cares more about math than artistry
  - Fun fact: He is the only one and is wrong
- The season of highest-ever scores. Is it the judging? Or is the gymnastics just better than five year ago? Spencer and Craig disagree
NCAA Regional draw
- This is the last year we have to deal with byes! HOORAY!
- We break down all the regionals and assess which ones are going to be crazy-hard (Minnesota! NC State! Alabama!)
- Individual competitors we desperately need to qualify to nationals (Lane! Hislop! Chan! Mitchell!) for reasons including artistry and tattoos
Birmingham World Cup
- Revolving stage and live band! Entertainment PLUS opportunities for comedy? Yes please
- MELNIKOVA HIT FOUR WHOLE EVENTS. IT’S A MIRACLE
- Marz Frazier and her fist pump heard ’round the world
- That British guy on the world feed broadcasts and the important history lesson he teaches all of us
Doha World Cup
- Craig discusses what the US approach to qualifying individual Olympic spots from world cups will be
- HIGHLIGHT OF ALL TIME: Marina Ulyankina dancing a jig after Perebinosova hit bars
- The North Korea contingent brings expressive floor (what???) and an absolutely terrifying vault
- Chuso is ready to medal at worlds
- Men’s gymnastics heartwarming moment of the week

GYMTERNET NEWS

Olga Korbut credits herself with ending the Cold War (duh), and Aliya is being coached by her ex-boyfriend. Just Russia things.
Aly Raisman gave a talk in Minnesota and mentioned that Kerry Perry still hasn’t reached out to any survivors.
International Gymnastics Camp wanted to require shorts or leggings during workouts in response to sexual abuse. UHHHHHHH…nope.
- Related: Check out the Darkness to Light Flip the Switch campaign
USAG Safe Sport has a new twitter account tweeting out suspensions and bans
Williams Strampel, Nassar’s boss at MSU’s college of Osteopathy, has been arrested for committing abuse himself. “How did Nassar get away with it for so long?” asked no one anymore. This is how.
Amy Tinkler is out of Commonwealth Games with an ankle injury because all of England is broken. Louis Smith weighed in on the controversy over her potential replacement (Fellows? James?) because of course he did.
The latest on the Dragulescu/Raducan drama that entirely encapsulates the current state of Romanian gymnastics

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296: Komova in Stuttgart, NCAA Crack, and the Ranch Incident

March 20, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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MEET NEWS (6:23)

STUTTGART!
- Komova is back and as gorgeous as ever on bars and beam
- “It’s all fun and games until Russia goes to beam”
- Nina Derwael has a 6.4 D on bars and is ridiculous
- Axelle Klinckaert has the insane Harry Potter floor routine we’ve been waiting for all our lives. Spencer breaks it down second-by-second because he needs medical help.
World Cup
- The winner is Zhang Jin like everyone predicted!
- Jordan Chiles took bronze with big vault and floor sets. Now, about that routine composition…
- Melnikova wins the hilarious save competition
- Our favorite skills: Tisha Volleman’s Arabian beam mount! Sarah Voss’s Delladio!
- Brinn Bevan used a medical emergency to warm Jessica’s heart
A special tribute to Danusia Francis’s floor save from the British Championship
The Baku World Cup restored our fervor for a CHUSO AA 2020 campaign.

GYMTERNET NEWS (58:05)

In a Washington Post article, Aly Raisman and trainer Melanie Seaman detailed the poor conditions at the ranch. Then, all hell broke loose on our Facebook. We discuss
- The key criticisms leveled by Raisman and Seaman and why they really are serious
- Why the reactions of Kelli Hill and Mary Lee Tracy were so disappointing and show that no lessons have been learned
- What a preposterously inappropriate facility the ranch was in every respect
USAG is now publishing a list of suspended members in addition to the list of permanently ineligible members
Yet another hole in the USAG story—Jordyn Wieber says she witnessed an unnamed “high-profile USAG employee” learning about Nassar pre-2015
Another tragedy at Cirque, which makes three in less than five years
Simone and Stacey are the new celebrity power couple

NCAA NEWS (01:32:50)

Real 10s, fake 10s, and the problem with legs-apart-on-landing deductions
The phenomenon known as Senior Day Crack: Is it OK? (Spoiler alert: No)
Another CAMERAMAN INTERFERENCE RAGE-O-METER

YOUR FEEDBACK (1:53: 47)

HAS ASHTON MOVED TO SIMONE’S GYM?!?!?!?!?!?!
The problem with TOPs camp culture
Bringing posters to competitions (in which Jessica gets immediately distracted and starts talking about Judge Aquilina costumes again)
When the WHOLE TEAM GETS SUSPENDED
Where are the verification camp scores?!?
Being more considerate and thoughtful when discussing male body types

Live Show at NCAAs

We have added a few more seats to our St. Louis live show, but they’re already almost gone again! Get your tickets here

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2018 Design Contest Winners available now!

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295: Elvire Teza & Cecile Canqueteau-Landi

March 14, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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ELVIRE AND CECILE!

Get excited. This week, Jessica had the pleasure of chatting with legendary daredevil beam queen and two-time Olympian Elvire Teza and her partner in French greatness, Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, 1996 Olympian and coach of 2016 Olympic gold medalist for team USA, 2015 bars world champ, Madison Kocian and—now—Simone Biles!

How training has changed from the 80’s and 90’s.
Being part of the French superstar era of firsts with Isabelle Severino, Ludvine Furnon and Eloidie Lussac.
Stereotypes of French training vs. American training: cigarettes, boyfriends, wine, baguettes, artistry, etc.
Adriana Pop and Laurent Landi bringing the makeup to the French-style performance game.
How Teza learned her crazy eponymous skills and dealing with her constant fear.
Why Cecile chooses to stay in the United States for the “more rewarding” gymnastics, especially NCAA and level 10s.
What they think of the current Code of Points and how they’d do under todays code.
What it’s like coaching Simone Biles and which crazy skills we can convince Simone to do.
The 1996 Olympic Games in the loud Georgia dome, AKA the butter-smell arena.
How to avoid burnout the French way: All the naughty things they did to get a break from their grueling schedules.
Why Cecile and Laurent took a long break after Rio.

Required Viewing

Cecile Canqueteau-Landi floor 1996 Olympics, and beam from 1998 featuring “tusk mount” jump half-turn to handstand from side

Elvire Teza fluff from 1998 American Cup, floor 1996, beam 1997, bars 2000

Live Show at NCAAs

Seats limited. Get your tickets here

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

OVERVIEW

The college gymnastics season is in full swing, and we’re on the hunt for designs to put on t-shirts and swag that celebrate our love of this amazing sport. That’s why we’re bringing back our GymCastic design contest bigger and better than ever before (think Ebee’s DTY).

Submit your best college-themed designs and you could be one of 5 winners whose art will be seen on the bodies of gymnerds everywhere.

THE PRIZE

Your design and name/website featured on our page
Your artwork made into merchandise to be sold in the GymCastic store
A free t-shirt of your choosing from our merch store.

THE MISSION

Create an college gymnastics-centric design that will make us moan like Kathy Johnson-Clarke.

Submit your original design by posting it on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram with hashtag #gymcasticdesigncontest and email it to us. Bonus points for collage-style images!

We use a site called TeePublic to print our merchandise. They do a great job of explaining their artwork requirements on their website. The most important thing is that if you win you will need to submit your art as a PNG file with a transparent background. Check out their Design FAQ at www.teepublic.com/faq

WARNING: This art must be your own original design. Directly using an image of a person (or the logo of a team or word NCAA) without their consent is frowned upon, and also a intellectual property violation. We can’t use your design if you do. Silhouettes are a gray area, and are usually acceptable.

Deadline: Saturday, March 17 (St. Patty’s Day!) Questions? Email us at GymCastic@gmail.com.

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294: American Cup 2018

March 6, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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AMERICAN CUP (5:00)

We get to talk about actual gymnastics this week! UNCLE TIM, Jessica, and Spencer discuss the big headlines

Morgan Hurd won all the everythings and has improved SO MUCH, even since worlds
Mai Murakami had the best performance by a non-American since 2011
Yul Moldauer‘s form (and hair) is the entire point of gymnastics
Kenzo had a no good, very bad day
Mao Yi broke her femur on an UNSAFE VAULT, but Morinari Watanabe brought her 100,000 bags of chips so it’s all OK
Maile O’Keefe’s ankles might have special powers, and we should look into that
From Petro Pakhniuk to Lorette Charpy to BROOKLYN’S FLOOR to Sun Wei‘s vault height, we pick our special highlights of the meet. Jessica has five. (32:16)

It didn’t all go…great, so we select our un-highlights from this year’s American Cup, including

“The People’s Republic of Japan” and why the PA announcer made Spencer feel unsafe
Brooklyn Moors breaking everyone’s hearts/it does’t matter because Brooklyn Moors
The failures of E score in the current quad (there are a lot)
Unacceptable behavior from cable-holders and camerapeople (48:27)

And then there was the broadcast

A certain someone was missing from the broadcast team, and it was AMAZING
The way NBC handled addressing all the…everything…that has been happening. Yea or nay?
All those commercials for SafeSport and the USAG “athlete assistance fund”
And of course the Kerry Perry commercial. Oof. We have some thoughts.

NCAA NEWS (1:14:20)

Why the vault judges need to PULL IT TOGETHER
The crackiest 10s in NCAA over the weekend
The important existence of Tyra McKellar
The Nastia Cup—who is going to take NCAA by storm in the near future?
- Haleigh Bryant’s handspring pike 1/2 is Rachel Slocum-good
- Andrea Li’s forward stalder should be in a museum
- Ways we can get Rachael Lukacs into Georgia’s vault lineup…like now?
- Jaedyn Rucker’s floor

GYMTERNET NEWS (1:34:57)

The FBI opens an internal review into why it took A YEAR to do anything
“The gymnasts are very aware of everything going on”
Aly will GET YOU, has filed a lawsuit against the USOC, USAG
Jacob Moore is the first male victim of Nassar to come forward
Luan Peszek is no longer employed by USAG.
- We discuss whether a total purge is the right way to go and consider Aimee Boorman’s letter
Simone is back on the national team
Claudia Fragapane has torn her Achilles
We finally get to talk about diarrhea. Jessica has a special story to share.
- Oh and also good coaching practices or whatever. Mostly diarrhea.
We break down the latest announcements from the FIG executive committee

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

OVERVIEW

Submit your best college-themed designs and you could be one of 5 winners whose art will be seen on the bodies of gymnerds everywhere.

THE PRIZE

Your design and name/website featured on our page
Your artwork made into merchandise to be sold in the GymCastic store
A free t-shirt of your choosing from our merch store.

THE MISSION

Create an college gymnastics-centric design that will make us moan like Kathy Johnson-Clarke.

Submit your original design by posting it on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram with hashtag #gymcasticdesigncontest and email it to us. Bonus points for collage-style images!

We use a site called TeePublic to print our merchandise. They do a great job of explaining their artwork requirements on their website. The most important thing is that if you win you will need to submit your art as a PNG file with a transparent background. Check out their Design FAQ at www.teepublic.com/faq

WARNING: This art must be your own original design. Directly using an image of a person (or the logo of a team or word NCAA) without their consent is frowned upon, and also a intellectual property violation. We can’t use your design if you do. Silhouettes are a gray area, and are usually acceptable.

Deadline: Saturday, March 17 (St. Patty’s Day!) Questions? Email us at GymCastic@gmail.com.

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293: EXCLUSIVE Inside Elite Verification

February 27, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

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ELITE VERIFICATION

Jessica was at LSU for elite verification! (5:00)

Much like Santa Claus, Jessica Claus arrived in the middle of the night to bring us

All the inside scoop we could ever ask for
Trinity Thomas, Margzetta Frazier (43:30), and Jordan Chiles (50:13) reacting to the new verification experience in their own words
An exclusive interview with Rhonda Faehn where she discusses (59:20)
- What her job actually is, especially now
- The search for a new NTC: whether the position will be split into different jobs, who will be making that decision, and what USAG is looking for from its new NTC
- Why people should trust her, a former Karolyi gymnast, to bring a change in culture
- The search for a new national training center, and much more

Plus, Jessica answers all of our (so, Spencer’s) questions about verification like

What was the atmosphere? And more importantly, was it weird?
How is Safe Sport being employed in the national team system now?
What was the parents’ reaction to being invited in?
What do those involved think about the changes and the future of USAG?
WHY WHY WHY were so many gymnasts not shown on the live stream?
Is there still a selection committee? Who is on it? How involved were they in the verification? Were they giving feedback?
Were the international assignments based directly on the results of verification?
For how long will this temporary system be in place?
Did anyone give a big dramatic speech addressing all the elephants in the room?
What is the new LSU gymnastics palace like? Were other NCAA coaches there?
What happened that would NEVER have happened at a Martha camp?

Also, the gymnastics (1:22:24) ! Detailed news on all the various perfections (Riley McCusker! Shilese Jones! Olivia Dunne! Adeline Kenlin! Jafree Scott! Kara Eaker! Kayla DiCello! Leanne Wong! Audrey Davis! Jordan Bowers! Konnor McClain! Alyona Shchennikova!) that you didn’t see on the live stream.

GYMTERNET AND MEET NEWS

Kensley joins in to keep everyone vigilant about what’s going on with the men’s program and why it’s not being held to the same standards of change as the women’s program. AKA, welcome to the “conflicts of interest” portion of the show! (1:46:59)
A period of mourning for Kennedy Baker’s Achilles and a story about Kennedy Baker bringing old nemeses together and basically single-handedly creating world peace because Kennedy Baker (1:52:40)
Cal beat Utah for the second time ever and set ALL THE RECORDS in the process
Exciting US MAG World Cup assignments, and why they kind of don’t make sense (1:59:58)
All the big developments from the Melbourne World Cup including Chen Yile, Georgia Godwin, Milad Karimi, Aruna Buddy Reddy, and Hidetaka Miyachi (2:03:24)
British Gymnastics has officially fired Eddie van Hoof, who led the MAG team from 2005-2017, for very vague reasons following an independent investigation (2:09:00)
More Stacey Ervin WWE news!

LIVE SHOW AT NCAAs

We’re doing a live show at NCAA nationals this year, featuring Jessica, Spencer, and maybe some very secret, very special guests! SOLD OUT.

WHEN: Thursday, April 19^th from 7:30-9:00pm in St. Louis.

T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST

OVERVIEW

Submit your best college-themed designs and you could be one of 5 winners whose art will be seen on the bodies of gymnerds everywhere.

THE PRIZE

Your design and name/website featured on our page
Your artwork made into merchandise to be sold in the GymCastic store
A free t-shirt of your choosing from our merch store.

THE MISSION

Create an college gymnastics-centric design that will make us moan like Kathy Johnson-Clarke.

Submit your original design by posting it on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram with hashtag #gymcasticdesigncontest and email it to us. Bonus points for collage-style images!

We use a site called TeePublic to print our merchandise. They do a great job of explaining their artwork requirements on their website. The most important thing is that if you win you will need to submit your art as a PNG file with a transparent background. Check out their Design FAQ at www.teepublic.com/faq

WARNING: This art must be your own original design. Directly using an image of a person (or the logo of a team) without their consent is frowned upon, and also a intellectual property violation. We can’t use your design if you do. Silhouettes are a gray area, and are usually acceptable.

Deadline: Saturday, March 17 (St. Patty’s Day!) Questions? Email us at GymCastic@gmail.com.

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy one of our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

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292: Winter Cup 2018 and FIG official statement on hosting World Championships in anti-gay country

February 20, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

LISTEN HERE

Read the episode recap here.

GYMTERNET NEWS (2:05)

The Preventing Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act has been signed into law!
- What it says, why it’s important, and also GO TO THE POLICE!
USAG probably lied to the Senate, and MSU’s dog ate its homework
In “not just gymnastics” news, USA Swimming may be even worse in scope and duration
Aly, McKayla, and others refuse to participate in the USOC investigation and lay the smackdown on Scott Blackmun
We rage about those HORRIBLE local news fluff pieces where coaches proudly proclaim that none of their gymnasts were abused.
- Dave Chapelle on imperfect allies in part two of his Netflix special, The Bird Revelation.
USAG will be STREAMING the LSU verification meet. Is this meaningful transparency?
A whole bunch of US individuals will be competing at Jesolo, just like we told them to!
Skinner is entertaining the possibility of going for 2020 (39:48)
- A rundown of how that would work in the super-complicated 2020 qualification format
- Thoughts on Megan Marsden’s less-than-enthusiastic reaction to the idea
Elena Eremina had back surgery, so life is canceled for six months
The official response from the FIG regarding LGBT gymnasts and staff in Qatar for the world championship (1:08:57):
- “We understand your concerns with regards to LGBT gymnasts and staff at the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Doha.However, as a FIG member and by hosting the championships, the Qatar Gymnastics Federation adheres to the FIG Rules that does not allow any kind of discrimination or any violation of human rights as per Article 2.2 of the Statutes and Article 1. of the Code of Ethics.During the last ten editions of the Doha World Cup no incident has become known, where a gymnast, coach, official or fan has faced any mistreatment in this regard. The same applies to World Championships of other sports that have been held in Doha, including the 2015 IHF Handball World Championships, the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships and the 2016 UCI Road World Championships as well as the annual ATP and WTA Qatar Open tennis tournaments.As long as the participants, coaches, officials and staff, irrespective of their race, sex, language or religion, respect the law of the host country and abide by the rules, there is no reason to fear imprisonment.”

NCAA NEWS (50:46)

Arizona put up only 2 on vault and 3 on floor this week, and we are FASCINATED
Breaking down the week’s 10s from Sydney Snead, Ivy Lu, and Elizabeth Price
Crack or Correct: The weekend’s stuck DTYs (9.975 for Price, 9.950 for Skinner) and how they compare to other DTYs—and other vault scores from the same meets. Yeah, we talk about that Nia Dennis vault.

WINTER CUP (1:21:45)

Jessica is joined by Kensley to discuss this year’s Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas. They break down Sam Mikulak’s dominant victory, how it wasn’t the most terrifying competition in the history of gymnastics (WHAT?), and a gymnast who stole the whole show by the name of Asher Hong.

Who made the National Team and changes to the national team selection process and the dreaded point system (link to Day One points)
Our theories on why this meet wasn’t terrifying this year
Should 18-year old NCAA athletes be allowed to compete with true juniors?
Sam Mikulak, a fall in the all-around and it doesn’t matter.
Marvin Kimble goes 12 for 12 and shouts it from the rooftops
Highest D and E winners

Event	Hardest D	Best Execution
FX	5.8 Modi/Shaun Herzog	9.4 – Grand Breckenridge
PH	6.4 Naddour	9.0 Nedoroscik (NCAA PH champion)
SR	5.9 Kimble	8.95 Riley Loos (JR)
VT	5.6 Kimble	9.6 K. Penev
PB	6.3 Mikulak	9.15 Mikulak
HB	6.3 Kimble	8.75 Mikulak

For an in-depth look at all the routines, check out Kensley’s live blogs of Prelims and Finals.

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MORE WAYS TO LISTEN

291: Not a Good Look

February 14, 2018 by Spencer Barnes

LISTEN HERE

Read the episode recap here

GYMTERNET NEWS

First, Jessica has two op-eds out, one in HuffPo and one in the LA Times—which you MUST read otherwise we can’t be friends anymore. Also, we explain why you might see that Nassar interview showing up in your feeds this week.

BUT THEN:

Clarifications about the February verification at LSU regarding chaperones, compensation, and reimbursement
WOGA is in trouuuuuuuuble for its handling of sexual abuse complaints
Aly says Geddert might have known in 2011. He’s also facing a criminal investigation. Oh, look how that worked out.
The House of Representatives is initiating an investigation into all the major players. Spencer and Jessica have dreams about what comes next.
GUH. FRAN. COME ON.
MSU might actually fire someone. Whaaaaaaa?
The FIG president issues a plan to address sexual abuse. What Jessica thinks his fashion choices tell us about his intentions.
The Oleg Verniaiev interview that must be read to be believed.

MEET NEWS

Is UCLA for real? Is Florida…going to be for real?
Ivy Lu is the best bars worker you’ve never seen
Kennedy Baker got a 10! We compare her “piked” Dos Santos to the OG “layout” Dos Santos.
Crack or Correct: Should Myia Hambrick be getting 10s? The most hilarious overscore of the week. Plus, Alex McMurtry’s DTY scores.
Brenna Dowell did beam exhibition, and it was AMAZING.
Could Romania have a bars solution?
Aliya did bars and beam exhibition in France, and we’re making 1700 plans for her life.
English Championships!
- Ellie Downie is back!
- Amy Tinkler and Claudia Fragapane are basically bars specialists now
- Georgia-Mae Fenton is bringing throwback Valdez realness on beam

FEEDBACK

Triceratops hair
The overtraining epidemic among the littles
A new listener (you might recognize) is almost, kind of obsessed with us
Stacey Ervin tries out for WWE. Jessica dies.
JESSICA LIES
The virtues of the national camps
Hypocrisy from college coaches?!?!?! Never!
Mother Earth tries to sabotage Khorkina
A special Jessica RAGE-O-METER about broadcasting gymnastics

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy one of our awesome clothing and gifts here.

MY GYM JUDGE

MyGymJudge bridges the gap between you and the judges! It’s simple. Go to www.mygymjudge.com, submit a video of your routines, and receive detailed analysis from one of our incredible judges.

GO to www.mygymjudge.com today and use the code GC20 to receive a 20% discount!

NORBERT’S

This episode is brought to you by Norbert’s athletic products. February’s special deal is a Pink and Purple panel mat, delivered to you with free shipping for $199. Check out that and all their other equipment at norberts.net.