What We’re Talking About
Winter Cup, Kayla, Suni, Gabby, Trinity, NQS, Cottbus, Oklahoma and more. It was a heck of a week, highlighted of course by the action in Louisville, KY. In short, Kentucky is now Gator country. Florida Gator on sabbatical while she pursues her Olympic dreams, Kayla DiCello, looked fantastic while posting a big 56.850. Florida commit Skye Blakely (54.650) took silver and Hezly Rivera (54.000). And in her first elite meet since tying the all-time perfect 10 record at Florida, Trinity Thomas, debuted in 4th (53.250).
Of course, the big news is what didn’t happen. Just before she was scheduled to arrive in Louisville, Gabby Douglas posted that she contracted Covid and needed to pull out. Sunisa Lee was there to compete bars and beam and looked amazing throughout podium training and warmups. Unfortunately, when the judges were at the tables taking score she missed her full-twisting Jaeger. Regardless, watching her hit that skill over and over was a highlight.
At the Cottbus World Cup we saw another bars genius, Kaylia Nemour, drop an insane 15.433 routine to take the title, while Emma Malabuyo picked up more points to keep her Olympic hopes on track.
In college… Oklahoma, with all their championship teams, just posted a program record score of 198.675–a score they don’t need considering they’re the only school with an opening NQS above 198.
Feelings
- The bar is set: Kaylia Nemour
- Can’t wait for others to join Yul Moldauer in announcing their 2028 intentions
- It was also great to see him capture Winter Cup gold
- It’s looking good for Emma Malabuyo who grabbed another 14 points
- We hope to see Payton Richards back on the floor soon
- Glad to see Bailey Bunn is back
- This won’t be the only award Simone Biles will be vying for this year
- Rebeca Andrade’s got pipes
- Suni now needs an air fryer endorsement since she can’t have pickles
- We’re blown away by Curran Phillips’ 16.100 on parallel bars
Facts
- Leanne Wong got her gym slam
- Alabama joined the 198 club
- Oklahoma just recorded the 4th highest NCAA score of all time
- Ragan Smith has tied Maggie Nichols beam record
- Zhang Yihan: New skill alert
- 39.825: eMjae Frazier now owns the best all-around score in program history
- Her sister was witness
- Utah State got a new locker room
- We have NQS rankings and the top 5 are: Oklahoma, LSU, Cal, Utah and Florida
- The only team who has a No. 1 ranking besides Oklahoma is LSU on floor
Award(s)
- Winter Cup Champion: Kayla DiCello
- Winter Cup Champion: Yul Moldauer
- Gym Slam: Leanne Wong
What’s On the Socials?
PERFECT TEN‼️
Grace McCallum is perfect on floor for the first time in her career! 👏 pic.twitter.com/CRbXoZd2nk
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 24, 2024
IT'S FINN'S FLOOR & IT'S PERFECT
That's @aleahfinn third career perfect 🔟 on floor!
📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/TaUEIM8jeW
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) February 17, 2024
Lucky number 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣.
With her seventh career perfect 10, @raganesmith2000 ties Maggie Nichols for most perfect 10s on beam in program history! pic.twitter.com/SRoLOKdMRb
— Oklahoma Women's Gym (@OU_WGymnastics) February 24, 2024
Here's what PERFECTION looks like!!!
eMjae with a perfect 1️⃣0️⃣ on floor!!!#GoBears 🐻 | #OneDayBetter pic.twitter.com/MMyEgeNUXP
— Cal Women’s Gymnastics (@CalWGym) February 25, 2024
Algerian sensation Kaylia Nemour 🇩🇿 masters gravity in this extraordinary performance to take the Uneven Bars title at the #FIGWorldCup in Cottbus. Nemour, 17, is one of the few gymnasts to compete a routine with a difficulty rating of 7.0 or higher. #Gymnastics pic.twitter.com/xJqg3ccd9q
— FIG (@gymnastics) February 24, 2024
Quotes
“I was just kind of rotting in my bed and hoping that it would all go away.” ~ Sunisa Lee, Comeback Queen
Suni chatted with the Olympics.com before Winter Cup on her road to recovery.
♦
“At that moment, I knew the team needed my score, so I just had to go out there and do my routine the way I had been practicing it.”
~ Leanne Wong, Gym Slammer
Leanne Wong scored her first perfect 10 on floor this week, giving her a career gym slam (a 10 on all four apparatus).
♦
“I’m so sad to say that I won’t be competing this weekend. I was excited to get back out on the competition floor, but unfortunately, I just tested positive for COVID.”
~ Gabby Douglas, Gold Medalist in a Holding Pattern
Gabby posted this message on social media just before Winter Cup began.
♦
“I just started working it when I came back from Pan Ams.” ~ Kayla DiCello, Winter Cup Champion
In her post-meet interview Kayla shares how long she’s been working her Hindorff.
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Bonus Episode
Listen to this past week’s bonus episode: Winter Cup Podium Training 2024
Cocktail of the Week:
N.I.L. Juggernaut
MONEY. That’s what this drink is. Sweet, sweet, non-gymnastics related money.
Boozy
1 oz. Spiced Rum
5 oz. White Rum
5 oz. Jamaican Rum
1 oz. Coconut Cream
5 oz. Ube Simple Syrup
.5 oz. Lime Juice
5 oz. Pineapple Juice
Make Your Drink:
Combine all ingredients together in a cocktail shaker.
Shake only briefly, just to combine. Strain into a glass with crushed or pebbled ice.
Stick the Landing:
Top with fresh grated nutmeg.
Full Recipes & Entire Season Cocktail Menu Available Here (Thank You Linzerz!).
♦♦♦
What? You want even more? Join Club Gym Nerd and you get a bonus episode, College & Cocktails, every Friday after our meet of the week. Once the NCAA season is over you continue to get a weekly bonus episode every Friday afternoon. Plus you get access to all of our archives, exclusive content and more. Then we give the sober analysis on Monday (or Tuesday) after we’ve allowed the data to penetrate our feelings.
This column was composed and compiled by Steve Cooper, Editor, GymCastic; as performed by hosts Jessica O’Beirne and Spencer Barnes.
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