Jakarta Worlds Debrief: The Romanian Drama Explained With Coaches Daymon Jones & Patrick Kiens

Former Romanian head coaches Daymon Jones and Patrick Kiens join us to unpack the turmoil inside Romanian gymnastics — from new accusations to decades-old coaching culture and leadership struggles. Plus: what we learned from the 2025 Jakarta World Championships and our wish list for future World Championships.

And a happy message from Rings World Champion, Donnell Whittenburg. Find Resistance Resources here.

CHAPTERS – pre auto-ad insert

00:00:00 – Intro Cold Open: Romania abuse reports surface
00:03:36 – Headlines: Romania context (Golgota, Voinea, leadership turmoil)

00:10:02 – Interview: The Romanian Situation with Daymon & Patrick
00:10:34 – Abuse allegations and what coaches witnessed firsthand
00:20:15 – Old-school culture, leadership failure, and bad press
00:31:13 – Federation power dynamics, elections, and fallout

00:41:28 – Updates & programming notes
00:45:17 – Jakarta Worlds Debrief: Overall medal table (WAG/MAG highlights)
00:49:16 – China’s event-specialist strategy (7 routines, 3 medals)
00:51:54 – Judging parity: Melnikova’s AA score & floor 14 club
00:55:51 – Selection & pipeline fixes (camp vs real meets)
01:06:44 – Who needs a reset? USA, Italy & Brazil post-Olympics
01:24:11 – FIG talk: host selection, logistics & equipment issues
01:32:02 – Gymternet News: Canada CEO, Arthur Gander results, Liverpool 2030 bid
01:36:56 – Listener feedback & notes

HEADLINES:

• Check out this important message from Donell Whittenburg after becoming the United States’ first-ever rings world champion
• Denisa Golgota (Romania) made a complaint against the Voinea family with alleged threats of violence made toward her
  • Camelia Voinea stated she will no longer comment publicly on Golgota’s accusations while the federation investigates

INTERVIEW: PATRICK KIENS AND DAYMON JONES

• Former head coaches of the Romanian Olympic team, Patrick and Daymon give us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to work inside the program
• The Romanian Gymnastics Federation leadership crisis under Carmencita Constantin and Ingrid Istrate
• Gina Gogean’s dual role as vice president and national icon
• How the Romanian media protects its system
• What does sponsorship and the financial situation look like within the Romanian program?
• Comparisons between the American, Dutch, and Romanian systems
• What does the battle over coaching philosophies look like within the system?
• Is there hope for reform within the Romanian federation?

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS DEBRIEF:

• Which countries won the overall medal counts?
• Why 2025 Worlds was a terrible competition if you were drinking your own domestic scoring Kool-Aid
• The overcoming adversity section of the show starring our 2025 World Champions
• The United States WAG program came away with the lowest number of medals from a Worlds since 2001. Should there be alarm bells going off within the program?
• What is the challenge for the FIG for future World Championships?

GYMTERNET NEWS:

• Ashlee Sullivan won the Arthur Grander Memorial Competition
• College commitments:
  • Harlow Buddendeck is going to Stanford
  • Tatum Drusch is going to LSU
• Retirement news
  • Urara Ashikawa announced her retirement, saying the upcoming All-Japan Championships will be her final competition
  • Rebeca Andrade says she plans to retire after the 2028 Olympics
• Liverpool is bidding to host the 2030 World Championships
• The FIG will debut a new mixed-team event at 2027 Worlds in preparation for the 2028 Olympic Games

UP NEXT:

• Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast Friday this week only at noon Pacific/8 GMT

RELATED:

• Behind the Scenes – all episodes

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RESOURCES

• Spencer’s essential website The Balance Beam Situation 
  • GIFs of the Week and Meet schedule with links.
• Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim

• The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles

  by Aimee Boorman with Fact Checker. Aimee coached Simone from day one in gymnastics to three back to back World All Around titles, 14 world medals and an unprecedented 5 medals at the Rio Olympics. Get your copy now. And if you loved it, please leave a review.

Cover Art & Photos: Steve Cooper ©Gymcastic