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EUROPEAN GAMES

In our first episode of the week (look out for a junior worlds/gymternet news episode later in the week where we tell you all to GET A GRIP about the US performance), we take on the events of the second-ever European Games, which is definitely not the European Championships, you guys. Don’t even think that it is. Because it’s not. 

• Complaining about the format: 18 people in the AA final? Six in event finals?? One per country??? Top women’s AA qualifiers starting on bars???? This is not how it goes, European Games. Not how it goes. 
• Fangirling the queen: Angelina Melnikova edition. She had kind of an amazing meet and even hit beam all of the times. 
• Success for France, Ukraine being too Ukraine to function, and why the splatfest of an all-around final was definitely the fault of that damn personal-space-violating fox.
• The case of the last-minute allergic reaction
• Nina’s rollercoaster from bars fall to all-time ANGER BEAM
• Why 80-hour, mid-meet medal ceremonies are not OK
• Oh also Putin was there (???????)
• Kick-ass things to do with your medals
• Where does all-around champion Belyavskiy currently fit in the Russian hierarchy?
• Oleg is back…right…RIGHT?

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FURTHER READING

• European Games and Junior Worlds – Day 4
• European Games and Junior Worlds – Day 3
• Junior Worlds – Day 2
• European Games and Junior Worlds – Day 1

RELATED EPISODES

• 370: #FreeMai
• 369: 2019 American Classic
• 368: No-No-Nunnoisms (Commissioned)
• 367: Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship (Commissioned)
• 366: Virtuous Value Parts
• 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 363: Five Is the New Four (…Is the New Five)
• 362: Morgan Hurd & Heath Thorpe

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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In our second episode of the week covering the gymternet news only. Earlier this week we took a deep dive into the events of the American Classic, the first “big” elite meet of the summer. Let us know if you like the new format. 

STORIES OF THE WEEK

• Japan has gone crazy — Mai Murakami is not on Japan’s worlds team, despite being healthy and MAI. Spencer explains how this travesty has been allowed to occur because of Japan’s unnecessarily intransigent, early, and all-around-focused selection process
  • Kohei and Kenzo are ALSO not on Japan’s worlds team (pause for gasps), though it’s kind of a different situation going on there
• USAG is making rules again — Jessica takes us inside the world of the Leotard Cut Debacle and new USAG leo rules that had the gym-parent community up in arms this month
  • The new Safe Sport regulations are out, which are good in theory but we have some questions about grooming, practicality, and spelling
  • New selection procedures — changes to the women’s Olympic team selection, the Simone Clause, the independent observer, and WHAT ON EARTH is going on with the athlete rep situation
  • The junior worlds team has been named, and the Pan Ams training squad is official
• The US men went to Japan – Kensley has an update on the US men’s journey to Japan and what the US can learn from Japan’s approach to MAG

GYMTERNET NEWS

• Depression news: Rebeca Andrade has suffered another ACL injury, Parkettes coach John Holman has been restricted, Bailie Key has retired, and more
• Skill news: Yeo Seojeong has a new front handspring 2/1 vault that she landed successfully at Korea Cup, and Keisuke Asato is training a piked Ri Se Gwang 
• Squeal news: Jessica has things to say about wrestling, littles overcoming obstacles, and gymnastics babies

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 368: No-No-Nunnoisms (Commissioned)
• 367: Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship (Commissioned)
• 366: Virtuous Value Parts
• 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 363: Five Is the New Four (…Is the New Five)
• 362: Morgan Hurd & Heath Thorpe

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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AMERICAN CLASSIC

In our first episode of the week (look out for a gymternet news episode where we fight for justice for Mai Murakami later in the week), we take a deep dive into the events of the American Classic, the first “big” elite meet of the summer. 

You can rewatch (or just watch) the replay streams on USAG’s Youtube. 

• General “what even is this meet” thoughts about…what even is this meet…and whether USAG needs to try to make it an actual event, with a gentle reminder that it’s verrrrry early
• Fangirling the queens: Faith Torrez and Ciena Alipio — why Faith Torrez was so much better than everyone else here, and what Ciena Alipio has in common with Ukrainians
• Opportunities for comedy: Thank you to Emily Lee, Mia Heather, Ciena Alipio, and little Hopes gymnast for fulfilling the true prophecy and point of gymnastics by delivering the moments of the meet 
• Sunisa Lee’s Nabieva + Bhardwaj. YOU GUYS. I MEAN…
• The new juniors we’re now officially obsessed with. Spoiler: it’s all of them.  
• Spencer’s opportunity to stop all this insufferable, deflating positivity and fill his metaphorical chalk bucket with refreshing negativity about some unpleasant trends
• What we noticed from the seniors, including an episode CSI: Code of Points

GYMCASTIC GLOBAL

• Dutch Nationals gave us a fight between Casimir Schmidt and Bart Deurloo on the men’s side for who has the best (most) tattoos, while Naomi Visser continues to be the talk of the town, and LIEKE WEVERS IS BACK
• Nina Derwael upgraded her bars routine again at the FIT Challenge, adding a casual new Stalder Tkatchev piked. To her Nabieva. And Derwael-Fenton. 
• History for Taiwan at the Asian Championships 

FURTHER READING

• American Classic – Live Blog
• Things Are Happening – June 20, 2019
• The Race to Tokyo – Women’s Team Qualification

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 368: No-No-Nunnoisms (Commissioned)
• 367: Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship (Commissioned)
• 366: Virtuous Value Parts
• 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 363: Five Is the New Four (…Is the New Five)
• 362: Morgan Hurd & Heath Thorpe

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd members The Participation Sisters, who requested an episode called No-No Nunnoisms: The Era of Larger-Than-Life Coaches (and why it needed to end).

Disclaimer: We’re going to laugh about some of this stuff, and we also know Bela is horrible.

• Is Bela Karolyi patient zero for this kind of gymnastics coaching?
• Inside the belief that you needed an impassioned man to coach you to Olympic success (barf barf barf barf barf), and then the times when that was (sigh) actually true. 
• NBC’s obsession with Bela Karolyi 
  • That horrific 1996 fluff piece on Kerri Strug — His defeat? The only man who could make her dreams come true? That boat-rowing methodology? OH HELL NO.
  • “Bela’s girls”
  • Obviously, Spencer can’t resist talking about that creep-burger 1995 Moceanu fluff or crazy 1992 articles
• Exaggerating the important of coaches by minimizing the athletes as “little girls,” even when they’re adults
• Bela and Nunno and the 1992 Trials war of words
• What have we (or should we have) learned from that era about the culture of the sport
• Have we come out of the era of larger-than-life coaches?

FURTHER READING

• Things Are Happening – June 14, 2019
• I Don’t Like Sheep – The Downgraded Elements
• American Classic Rosters
• The Japan Problem

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 367: Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship (Commissioned)
• 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
• 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
• 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
• 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned)
• 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned)
• 309: Perfect Form – The O’Beirne Code (Commissioned)
• 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 306: Gymnastics Fails (Commissioned)
• 304: The GymCastic Olympics (Commissioned)
• 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
• 279: A Diva Is Magical: The Svetlana Khorkina Episode (Commissioned)
• 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
• 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
• 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
• 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)

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This week’s episode has been commissioned by Brad, who commissioned this very special edition of GymCastic as a surprise gift for his girlfriend Tricia. We present…Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship. 

• All the makings of a classic rivalry—the preordained champion with OLYMPIC DNA LEGACY OMG, versus the little upstart from Iowa corn-fed-doo-dee-doo who just bounced along bouncily 
• The context of the new open-ended code and the BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT
• Who ultimately won that battle?
• The narrative of Nastia as “form” and Shawn as “power”—the aspects in which that holds up, and the aspects in which it definitely doesn’t. Enough time has passed that we can get real about some of these skills. 
• “Nastia won the 2008 all-around because the Olympic judges loved her international look.” We dive into that garbage barge and burn it from the inside. 
• The fan feud: Team Nastia or Team Shawn. You must pick a side.
• The culture war imposed on Shawn and Nastia. The “all-American girl next door” versus “the foreigner” and how that influenced THE FEUD. 
• And then Jessica officially pops off about the constant adjudication of whether prominent women are “best friends” or in a “catfight.” (Psychology Today)

FURTHER READING

• The Japan Problem
• Things Are Happening – June 7, 2019
• No Skill For You
• Live, Laugh, Nabieva

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
• 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
• 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
• 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned)
• 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned)
• 309: Perfect Form – The O’Beirne Code (Commissioned)
• 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 306: Gymnastics Fails (Commissioned)
• 304: The GymCastic Olympics (Commissioned)
• 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
• 279: A Diva Is Magical: The Svetlana Khorkina Episode (Commissioned)
• 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
• 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
• 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
• 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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GYMTERNET NEWS

• Simone’s upgrades! (EEEEEE)
• That Sarah Finnegan abortion broom internet scam
• Terin Humphrey was fired from USAG
• What exactly is the virtuous performance of a value part?
• NCAA coaching developments and rule proposals
• Aliya’s injury (NOOOOOOO)
  • Nabieva is back on national team (Spencer has a tribute here)
• Ashton Locklear retires
• A rousing game of “The British Call It What?” hosted by Kensley (56:56)

MEET NEWS (1:14:18)

• Canadian Nationals
  • The Ellie Black/Ana Padurariu rivalry delivers another classic
  • Brooklyn Moors tore her heart out for our sins
  • Shallon Olsen has never slept ever, apparently
• World Challenge Cups
  • Vault debacles—stopped runs and ad-board headbutts 
  • Rhys McClenaghan is back and recording huge PH scores
  • Tomas. Gonzalez. Spencer needs some smelling salts.
  • Trends in women’s floor composition for fans of dance elements
  • Goksu Uctas Sanli is everything we want in women’s gymnastics
  • Bars, er, um, didn’t go great
• Australian Nationals – updates on national champion Georgia Godwin, the state of Australia’s chances to make the Olympics, and Heath Thorpe

PLUS

MAN DRAMA! (1:51:18) Kensley updates us on the proposals (they’re just proposals, you guys) for drastic changes in men’s college gymnastics, the suspect claims being made about how wonderful they’re going to be, and the twitter fight that ensued. 

DEVO CAMP! (1:04:53) We are joined by Lauren Stevens of the Chalk Warrior who attended the most recent developmental camp at Flip Fest and is here to give us all the inside scoop, what she was surprised by, and encouraging news about tonal and cultural changes in the USAG system.

FURTHER READING

• Koper World Challenge Cup
• Things Are Happening – May 31, 2019
• Canadian and Australian Nationals
• That’s Not My Name

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition (Commissioned)
• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 363: Five Is the New Four (…Is the New Five)
• 362: Morgan Hurd & Heath Thorpe
• 361: 2019 NCAA Nationals
• 360: European Championships & NCAAs Preview

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The hair Olympics! And also gymnastics. But mostly hair! This week, we have a commissioned episode from Club Gym Nerd member Billy, who asked for an episode all about the team competition at the 1988 Olympics saying, “have fun with all the 80s styles and music.” We don’t need to be told twice. 

• Setting the scene
  • Check out last week’s 80s FIGHT episode for all the Romanian/Soviet lead-up drama to the 1988 Olympics
  • Updates on the age falsification discussion from last week, featuring Soviets who were underage too
  • Jessica finds an excuse to talk about, Chernobyl, another HBO show she’s obsessed with
  • Here is a video of then-FIG President Yuri Titov lying about Elena Mukhina being paralyzed (Thank you, Boris for sending us this video)
• Compulsories – perfection and politics
  • We gush about the wonders of compulsories and pick out the skills from the 1988 compulsory routines that we would put in our dream 2019 compulsories
  • Because of being an insufferable form queen, Spencer freaks out about people’s leg positions and fake 10s for gymnasts from famous countries
  • A fluff piece about acid wash jorts. Also Chelle Stack and Bela and weight and EVERYTHING’S FINE HERE. 
• The 0.5 deduction for the US team
  • What was the actual rule? Was the deduction for the US an appropriate reading of that rule? 
  • How did the Bela/Ellen Berger feud play into the deduction?
  • Whose fault was it really? (Spoiler: it’s Bela’s) 
• Team optionals
  • Do the Bulgarians have the biggest gripe?
  • A mild divorce over whether a tucked tkatchev would be hard
  • EAST GERMANY WAS OVERSCORED
  • Mullets. A deep controversy about the proper physics of a mullet.
  • The imperfect 10. Is it acceptable or not?
  • Which floor routine best encapsulates the 1980s—Silivas or Kersten? 
  • Interpreting Romania’s intended wiggles on beam, here and here
  • East German leos – pleather or rubber or substance not of this earth?
  • The Strazheva Moment
  • Why didn’t Silivas save the double double for finals?
  • Spencer says something very controversial about the US beam rotation
  • The Soviet Cowboy: An Analysis 
  • Creepy things that happened after the competition

FURTHER READING

• Osijek World Challenge Cup
• Things Are Happening – May 24, 2019
• The Kims
• Zhaoqing World Challenge Cup

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 364: 80s Fight! (Commissioned)
• 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
• 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
• 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
• 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned)
• 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned)
• 309: Perfect Form – The O’Beirne Code (Commissioned)
• 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 306: Gymnastics Fails (Commissioned)
• 304: The GymCastic Olympics (Commissioned)
• 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
• 279: A Diva Is Magical: The Svetlana Khorkina Episode (Commissioned)
• 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
• 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
• 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
• 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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The greatest rivalries of the 1980s! This week, we have a commissioned episode from Club Gym Nerd member Kimo, who asked for an episode all about the 1980s rivalries between the Romanians and the Soviets, both team and individually. We are oh so happy to oblige!

Setting the scene

• A history of Soviet dominance
• Romania’s 1976 emergence
• The 1977 Europeans Romanian WALKOUT!
• The first great Romanian/Soviet rivalry—Nadia vs. Nellie and how it may or may not have influenced the future of gymnastics
• Romania wins in 1979, the “Nadia Infected Wrist” worlds
  • The true story of Nadia’s fake injury and government control

The Rivalry

• The 1980 Olympics of crazy judging
  • Nadia vs. Davydova and the case of the 30-minute delay
  • Nadia vs. Nellie and the case of the “computer malfunction”
  • Mukhina’s paralysis and the race for innovative difficulty
• 1981 Worlds
  • The silliest scores of 1981 (oh, it’s 9.800 for this)
  • The case of the Szabo/Agache impersonation of 1981
  • Romania ends up 4th. That’s right 4th.
• 1983 Worlds
  • Innovation from an all-star Soviet team—YURCHENKO vaults, the SHISHOVA
  • Just fangirling about Mostepanova for a while
  • More fun with bonkers scoring
• 1984 boycott gives us an opportunity to talk about China
• 1985 Worlds
  • Soviet Union casually adds Omelianchik and Shushunova to its already stellar 1983 team
  • The Soviets were so deep that Shushunova placed FIFTH on her own team in qualification
  • The evolution of Romanian floor to be less “chicken dance” and whether it contributed to what happened next
• 1987 and THE TIDE TURNS
  • Silivas wins the European AA title in Moscow, and the Soviets (gasp) fall
  • Romania gets its first world team title in 8 years
  • How the addition of Aurelia Dobre changed the game for Romania
  • Pro-Soviet bias in skill naming
  • Dobre vs. Shushunova vs. Silivas vs. Baitova vs. Omelianchik. This was no two-way rivalry
  • The 1988 Olympics and how timing is everything

FURTHER READING

• Firsts, Named Skills, and Innovators in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics
• Zhaoqing World Challenge Cup
• 2019 JO Nationals
• 2019 Spring/Summer Schedule

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
• 342: A Quitter’s Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned)
• 341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House
• 340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents
• 327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned)
• 325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned)
• 313: Best Floor Routines EVAH! (Commissioned)
• 312: 4th Is the New 1st (Commissioned)
• 309: Perfect Form – The O’Beirne Code (Commissioned)
• 308: 2004 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 306: Gymnastics Fails (Commissioned)
• 304: The GymCastic Olympics (Commissioned)
• 281: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments PART 2 (Commissioned)
• 279: A Diva Is Magical: The Svetlana Khorkina Episode (Commissioned)
• 278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 252: Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)
• 228: Leotards (Commissioned)
• 225: 1992 Olympics Recap with Wendy Bruce (Commissioned)
• 185: 2008 Olympic All-Around Finals (Commissioned)

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN 

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ALL GYMTERNET NEWS, ALL THE TIME

• Dumpster fire news 
  • It has been yet another terrible month for USAG (a theme???)
  • The Li Li Today interview disaster
  • The further mess of the botched hiring of Edward Nyman
    • Whose side are we on here? And is it no one’s? (It’s no one’s)
    • A deep dive into the unprofessional incompetence of everyone ever
  • Seriously Terin? The Terin Humphrey Facebook nonsense.
  • The disastrous, unacceptable debacle that was Mary Lou’s latest TV appearance
• NCAA Coaching Musical Chairs (41:20)
  • Jordyn Wieber is the new head coach at Arkansas
    • What do we think of this move? Is 23 too young to be a head coach? And most importantly, should Chris Brooks be her assistant?
  • Chris Waller has been named head coach at UCLA
    • What does a successful Chris Waller tenure look like? We discuss both results and bras. Guess who brought up which topic.
  • More from the NCAA coaching carousel, including all the changes at Utah
• Olympic and World Championship news  (55:30)
  • Olympic teams are returning to FIVE (count ’em five) members in 2024. We have extensive thoughts and further proposals, some of them radical
  • World championships will cap the number of competitors and introduce a qualification process starting in 2022.
  • There are really strict leotard rules for team and individual competitors in 2020 for some reason.
  • DRAH-MAAAAAA in the awarding of 2023 worlds. It involves taking people to court over a lack of numerical specificity in deadlines. Spencer is in heaven.
  • Important robot judging news.
• PLUS
  • At the Heart of Gold is now available on HBO. Jessica tells us about the premiere, and we discuss overall thoughts and play “what we’ve learned since.”
  • Olympic. Channel. Svetlana. Khorkina. Documentary.
  • New recruiting rules in NCAA (finally!)
  • Diego Hypolito comes out
  • Jordan Schwikert, Alyssa Baumann, and Tasha Schwikert have testified in TX about a MeToo bill
  • Simone does her second SI Swimsuit Shoot, and Jessica explains to Spencer why it actually matters

• Chinese Nationals!!! (1:36:32)
  • Tingting is the national AA champion and UB champion—and is also brilliantly Netherlands-ing the crap out of floor
  • The craziness of event finals, where Fan Yilin missed on bars, everybody fell on beam, and Zhang Jin had the most sad-larious floor leap miss-save in history.
  • SHANG CHUNSONG won the floor title, but the true winner was her shirt
  • World tumbling champion Jia Fangfang has made huge strides on floor
  • We have three new perfect junior obsessions: Ou Yushan, Luo Rui, and Guan Chenchen, who is a silly little goose who is dancing constantly
  • Plus, the most perfect PBars routine ever.

FURTHER READING

• The Only Gymnast That Mattered: The Svetlana Khorkina Story
• Things Are Happening – May 9, 2019
• Perfect Chinese Beamers Who Never Saw the Light of Day
• Gymnastics GIFs for All Occasions: Part 2

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 362: Morgan Hurd & Heath Thorpe
• 361: 2019 NCAA Nationals
• 360: European Championships & NCAAs Preview
• 359: Sudden Death Regionals & Morgiboo Magic
• 358: Regionals Preview, Shire Brown, Olivera, Ruddock

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MORGAN AND HEATH!

This week, Jessica and Spencer chat with gymnastics royalty—2017 world all-around champion Morgan Hurd and 2018 Australian national floor champion and Worlds squad member Heath Thorpe—about being the undisputed monarchs of the gymternet and much more, including

• How they became friends and whether they’re accepting applications for new members
• Behind the scenes stories from 2018 worlds
• Which apparatuses are the stupidest and least stupidedest
• Forcing Morgan to try to come up with the names of MAG skills
• Heath’s gymnastics idols, and his decision to be out publicly on the internet
• Embarrassing fan tales about the time Morgan met Aliya Mustafina
• The story behind Morgan’s new floor routine, and if there are any other secret upgrades she can reveal to us
• The deal with Morgan’s crazy elbow and her most recent surgery
• The Morgiboo Book Club – what are we reading this month?
• Favorite movie genres, escape rooms, how 3 out of 4 of us don’t care about Game of Thrones, and all kinds of nonsense

What’s next? You can catch Heath competing at the Australian National Championships, May 24-26 in Melbourne!

FURTHER READING

• Gymnastics GIFs for All Occasions: Part 2
• Things Are Happening – May 3, 2019
• Drug Murder at Le Club Gymnastics
• State of the National Teams Address
• Things Are Happening – April 26, 2019

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

RELATED EPISODES

• 361: 2019 NCAA Nationals
• 360: European Championships & NCAAs Preview
• 359: Sudden Death Regionals & Morgiboo Magic
• 358: Regionals Preview, Shire Brown, Olivera, Ruddock
• 357: It’s the Freakin’ Lighting!
• 356: Vallapalooza
• 284: Morgan Hurd

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