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The Rivalries We Never Got: How to Fix Gymnastics

Daniel Rothwell
Posted by Daniel Rothwell
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Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade competed against each other only five times in nine years. In this episode, we ask a simple question: what if gymnastics was designed to help the best athletes compete against each other instead of preventing it?

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MEET NEWS

  • Lia Monica Fontaine, the reigning world silver medalist on vault, is your Canadian National All-Around Champion!
    • Ellie Black competed and tied for the highest beam score on day 2 of the competition
    • Aurelie Tran finished third after day 1, but didn’t compete on day 2
    • Ava Stewart competed vault, bars, and beam
    • Shallon Olsen took silver on vault
  • Koper World Cup
    • Chaos in the bars final
      • Zsofia Kovacs wins bars with a flyaway dismount
      • Roosenkrantz kicks the mat, but still takes the silver medal
      • Veerman hit her feet on the bar and had to take an extra swing, but still took bronze
    • Alexia Blanaru (Romania) wins gold on beam despite grabbing the beam on a wolf turn
    • Taeja James won two silvers after a 7-year international meet hiatus!

GYMTERNET NEWS

  • Texas will get its first DI Gymnastics Program! Texas State will launch the first NCAA Division I women’s gymnastics program in Texas
    • The program is tentatively scheduled to begin in spring 2028
    • The bobcats will join Boise State, Oregon State, Utah State, and Southern Utah in the PAC-12
  • Dumpster fire news
    • Paul Miller, a former Austin-area gymnastics coach, was indicted on child indecency charges
      • The prosecutor is looking for other survivors. Please contact Boerne County Prosecutor, Andrew Fields
        • Victims advocate number: +1 (830) 249-9343
  • Simone Biles says she is still 50% for Los Angeles 2028
  • Ukrainian gymnasts are politically protesting the inclusion of Russian gymnasts at the Rhythmic European Championships
  • Denver University is seeking solutions to prevent Achilles tendon injuries in collegiate women’s gymnastics
  • NCAA Gymnastics teams going global
  • The National Bank of Romania is minting a commemorative coin marking 50 years since Nadia’s perfect 10
  • The University of Michigan is building a new $29 million facility for the men’s gymnastics team
  • Liverpool will host the World Championships in 2030!
  • Check out ‘The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony,’ a coming-of-age story about young gymnasts in Pakistan pushing the limits of society
    • The documentary is Tribeca-bound with backing from Malala Yousafzai
  • The 1984 U.S. Men’s Team that won gold in Los Angeles in 1984 is getting their own documentary, ‘The Summer of Gold’
  • The Iranian women’s trampoline team made history at the Asian Championships by securing a silver medal, the first official international medal in women’s gymnastics since the 1979 revolution
  • Comeback news!

HOW DO WE FIX GYMNASTICS?

  • The best gymnasts in the world do not actually compete against each other
    • Countries are competing against each other
    • All the times the best gymnasts were left at home
    • Federations have too much control
    • It’s too hard to follow who is winning and why they are winning!!!
    • Gymnasts don’t have a way to profit from their gymnastics, not from their looks
  • How do we get the best gymnasts in the world to compete against each other regularly?
    • Could we live in a world that eliminates federation control?
    • Should teams be secondary to individual qualification?
    • We look to tennis as an example for how we could get the best gymnasts in the world to compete against each other

  • We also discuss how emerging technologies could transform the fan experience, including:

    • Real-time scoring and skill recognition
    • LIDAR-assisted judging and performance analytics
    • AR/VR viewing experiences
    • Apple Vision Pro sports viewing
    • Meta’s Xtadium courtside viewing model
    • Arcturus digital-twin technology
    • Interactive statistics and alternative broadcasts

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Intro: Revolutionizing Gymnastics
01:01 – Texas State Adds D1 Gymnastics
03:13 – Canadian Championships & Ellie Black
07:07 – Koper Cup Chaos
14:04 – Behind The Scenes: Sharks, Dysentery & Club Gym Nerd
16:32 – Gymternet News: Texas Coach Indicted, DA looking for suvivors
17:38 – Simone Biles Is Still 50/50
21:18 – Ukrainian Gymnastics Protest Campaign
22:23 – Denver’s Achilles Injury Research
24:09 – Florida’s Singapore Tour
25:35 – Nadia’s 50-Year Perfect 10 Celebration
26:54 – Michigan Men Get a New Facility
27:28 – Gymnaestrada Comes to Las Vegas
28:59 – New Pakistan Gymnastics Documentary
30:25 – 1984 U.S. Men’s Team Documentary
33:08 – Iranian Women Win Historic Medal
33:47 – Melanie & Rebeca Return Updates

34:25 – Revolutionizing Gymnastics: How We Fix The Sport
34:45 – The Problem: The Best Gymnasts Never Compete
37:19 – Simone vs Rebeca: Only 5 Times in 9 Years
39:17 – When World-Class Athletes Get Left Home
42:06 – Why Federations Have Too Much Power
47:02 – Borrowing the Tennis Model
50:34 – Rankings, Injuries & Athlete Autonomy
54:24 – Wild Cards System
56:26 – Fixing Judging with Technology
58:26 – Make Scores Understandable
01:01:12 – Real-Time Skill Tracking & Data Visualization
01:01:39 – AR, AI & Digital-Twin Technology
01:03:29 – VR Front-Row Seats for Every Fan
01:09:01 – Alternative Broadcasts & Fan Engagement
01:14:06 – How Gymnasts Should Actually Get Paid
01:16:39 – Athlete Unions, Data Rights & Ownership
01:22:40 – The WNBA Model for Athlete Bio Data
01:24:38 – Designing the Perfect Competition System
01:27:12 – Turning Olympic Viewers Into Real Fans
01:34:15 – Listener Question: Biles I vs Dos Santos

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Cover art & photographs © GymCastic / Steve Cooper

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