GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

US WOMEN'S SELECTION PREVIEW First, we preview the US women's team camp, are disgusted by the selection criteria,  and make the case for each of the athletes attending. And since there are only six people trying for four spots...everyone has a shot! Ciena Alipio, Kayla DiCello, eMjae Frazier, Olivia Greaves, Konnor McClain Leanne Wong. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW Full Schedule It's the Kitakyushu Worlds of...ahem...opportunity! We preemptively start some equipment drama because we're so helpful Which Olympic medalists are competing at worlds and are they going to clean up? (Yes.) Who might challenge Andrade and Melnikova for all-around medals? What is Spencer grumpy about (today)? Why men's floor is the final we're most looking forward to Becky Downie's Revenge Kensley tries her hardest to get you interested in pommel horse and rings The wildcards we're most excited to see, like Desiree Carofiglio and Lee Yunseo GYMTERNET NEWS The FBI isn't off the hook, Chuso is going to Chuso, Giulia Steingruber retired, and more important news JOIN CLUB GYM NERD  Join Club Gym Nerd for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! RELATED EPISODES Olivia Dunne and Katelyn Ohashi Interview & GOAT Review Tokyo Olympics Recap

The Tour Spencer has now seen the Simone's Gold Over America Tour (GOATour )and he and Jessica have an...um, well...let's say difference of opinion about pretty much everything about it Spencer discusses typos, what constitutes cutesy nonsense, and the difference between gymnastics and acting Jessica cries about how the tour is changing the world one 4-year-old boy at a time Olivia Dunne and Katelyn Ohashi Olivia Dunne and Katelyn Ohashi join us to discuss the new NCAA name, image, and likeness rules (NIL), how life has changed for Olivia this summer, what Katelyn missed out on in the pre-NIL era, Katelyn's advice for Olivia, the cautionary tale that was the Aurora Games, advice for handling social media in a healthy way, and reflections on their experiences in elite. JOIN CLUB GYM NERD Join Club Gym Nerd or buy a gift membership for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Behind the Scenes at Tour Rehearsal Behind the Scenes: Smudging Behind the Scenes: Rodeo Exercise Machine Behind the Scenes: Adventures in Crying at Disneyland Behind the Scenes: Kensley's Wedding Behind The Scenes After Olympic Trials Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! And Pride gear! RELATED EPISODES Congressional Hearings and Tour Preview 2000 Olympic Trials (Group Commission) The History of Olympic Trials Controversies How to Stage a Gymnastics Protest Tokyo Olympics Recap

Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see video clips of the gymnastics while we discuss. Please login to your Club Gym Nerd account to listen and/or watch this episode. Not a member? Join here. GOATour Rehearsal Jessica went to rehearsals for the tour and HAS to tell you about what she saw, how it's different from—and so much less lame than—every other tour, and how many times she cried (it was a lot). Congressional Hearings Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, and Maggie Nichols testified in front of a Senate committee on the FBI mishandling of the criminal ex-doctor case. We discuss: the SCATHING report from the OIG on the coverups and failures of the FBI, what we learned from their testimony, what we still want to find out, and whether this is actually going to help anything at all or if it's all just an exercise in ego and showboating for senators. US Men's Worlds Team Following two days of selection camp, the US men's world team has been named. We break down the utter tragedy of gymnastics that was the first day as well as how non-controversial the ultimate selection was...except for some noteworthy absences from the field. Gymternet News The Chinese National Games have started, it's time to irrationally get your hopes up about Romania again, and some worlds teams have been named. Plus, more news and your feedback. JOIN CLUB GYM NERD Join Club Gym Nerd or buy a gift membership for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Behind the Scenes: Smudging Behind the Scenes: Rodeo Exercise Machine Behind the Scenes: Adventures in Crying at Disneyland Behind the Scenes: Kensley's Wedding Behind The Scenes After Olympic Trials Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! And Pride gear! RELATED EPISODES 2000 Olympic Trials (Group Commission) The History of Olympic Trials Controversies How to Stage a Gymnastics Protest Tokyo Olympics Recap

This week, we have a group commission from Brianna, Stephanie, Atwood, Laura, Karla, and Emma, all about [deep breath] the collective nightmare that was the 2000 Olympic Trials. We discuss: The breaking news that there actually was official selection criteria, and it was technically followed. The significance of 2000 Trials as the worst thing that has ever happened ever, the controversy of the selection process, the low point this represented in athlete-first commentary, and just...the Bela of it all Shannon's comeback What if Atler had been able to compete on the "new" vault? The way the commentators talk about Alyssa Beckerman The infamous Rybacki fluff piece DLO + Punch front Shannon's vault injury BEIGE DRAPES Steve Nunno's performance piece The Moceanu sadness forest Why they selected the team they did, and was it the right call? JOIN CLUB GYM NERD Join Club Gym Nerd or buy a gift membership for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Behind the Scenes: Rodeo Exercise Machine Behind the Scenes: Adventures in Crying at Disneyland Behind the Scenes: Kensley's Wedding Behind The Scenes After Olympic Trials We Have Olympic Teams! Olympic Trials Day Two for Men & Women Live From Olympic Trials: Men & Women Day One Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! And Pride gear! RELATED EPISODES The History of Olympic Trials Controversies Shannon Miller Shannon Miller Part 2 Vanessa Atler Jamie Dantzscher How to Stage a Gymnastics Protest Tokyo Olympics Recap No No Nunnoisms

OLYMPIC TRIALS CONTROVERSIES This week, we have a commission from Club Gym Nerd member Jasmine, who asked for an episode on the history of US Olympic Trials—how teams were selected and all the major scandals. And there have been plenty. 1980 - Olympic boycott hypocrisy and what happens when gymnasts tie for the last spot? (Or have alligators?) 1984 - The case of Dianne Durham and the Olympic petition 1988 - The Perils of Rank Order: The Early Years 1992 - The back-room meeting that kept Kim Kelly off the Olympic team 1996 - Only controversial if you're a Forster? 2000 - Atler. Nuff said. The Martha Years - Were teams really chosen months in advance? Plus, we make our proposals for an ideal Olympic team selection process for the United States JOIN CLUB GYM NERD Join Club Gym Nerd or buy a gift membership for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Behind the Scenes: Kensley's Wedding Behind The Scenes After Olympic Trials We Have Olympic Teams! Olympic Trials Day Two for Men & Women Live From Olympic Trials: Men & Women Day One Behind The Scenes: Post-Championships Debrief Behind The Scenes: Day Two US Women's Championships 2021 Behind The Scenes: Day One US Women's Championships 2021 Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! And Pride gear! RELATED EPISODES Vanessa Atler Jamie Dantzscher How to Stage a Gymnastics Protest Tokyo Olympics Recap

MINI-COMMISSIONS From Jay: A mini-commission on America's most enduring gymnast of the 1980-1984 era: Julianne McNamara. We discuss her status as the only American Olympic bars champion, her five 10.0s from the 1984 Olympics, the excellence of her compulsory bars routine, whether she would have won at a fully attended Olympics, and why more people should do her eponymous skill. From Sue: Imagine a gymnast-led revolt a la Stick It in support of Morgan Hurd not being advanced to Olympic Trials. We discuss the chances something like this could actually happen, then go full fan fiction on how it could have played out. Plus Jessica describes the time she actually tried to make a gymnastics revolt happen. GYMTERNET NEWS The latest casting news for the GOAT Tour and Dancing with the Stars A timber company bought the Karolyi Ranch. Oh, that's too bad. College gymnastics: Who's coaching where? Who's switching their commitment to where? Who's getting money from whom? What's the latest jerk-face nonsense? JOIN CLUB GYM NERD Join Club Gym Nerd or buy a gift membership for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Behind the Scenes: Kensley's Wedding Behind The Scenes After Olympic Trials We Have Olympic Teams! Olympic Trials Day Two for Men & Women Live From Olympic Trials: Men & Women Day One Behind The Scenes: Post-Championships Debrief Behind The Scenes: Day Two US Women's Championships 2021 Behind The Scenes: Day One US Women's Championships 2021 Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! And Pride gear! RELATED EPISODES Tokyo Olympics Recap Tokyo Olympics: The Final Day Tokyo Olympics: Women's All-Around Final Tokyo Olympics: Women's Team Final Tokyo Olympics: Men's All-Around Final Tokyo Olympics: Women's Qualifying Please login to your Club Gym Nerd account to listen and/or watch this episode. Not a member? Join here.

OLYMPIC RECAP BREAKING NEWS:  Uncle Tim PhD has a new website gymnastics-history where he uncovered the truth about Petrik and Caslavska score change controversy. '"Soviet Larisa Petrik’s preliminary scores were mysteriously upgraded, enabling her to tie Věra Čáslavská for the gold medal on floor.” Well, the story is more complicated, and the sinister undertones aren’t true. The judging scandal is a myth. Plain and simple." BEST OF: Our best moments of the Tokyo Olympics, from Suni Lee's all-around title, to Vanessa Ferrari finally getting her medal, to Nagornyy trying to crawl inside a wall, to unbroken ties, and more Simone and the Twisties: Reflecting on how it played out, how the media narrative evolved, and what would have happened if this were 2016 Biggest Surprises: Including the Russian women winning the team final (and what the US program needs to learn from this) and Dalaloyan still being a live person The Controversies: Because it wouldn't be an Olympics without them. No one-touch, the demon springboard, salute deductions, and the men's floor tie All the things that happened but we're going to pretend didn't happen Does this signal the end of the era of US women's dominance? Does this signal the beginning of an era of Russian dominance? What will be the ultimate legacy of the Tokyo Olympics? JOIN CLUB GYM NERD Join Club Gym Nerd or buy a gift membership for access to Behind the Scenes episodes. Behind The Scenes After Olympic Trials We Have Olympic Teams! Olympic Trials Day Two for Men & Women Live From Olympic Trials: Men & Women Day One Behind The Scenes: Post-Championships Debrief Behind The Scenes: Day Two US Women's Championships 2021 Behind The Scenes: Day One US Women's Championships 2021 Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have masks too! And Pride gear! RELATED EPISODES Tokyo Olympics: The Final Day Tokyo Olympics: Women's All-Around Final Tokyo Olympics: Women's Team Final Tokyo Olympics: Men's All-Around Final Tokyo Olympics: Women's Qualifying WATCH Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see video clips of the gymnastics while we discuss. login to your Club Gym Nerd account to listen and/or watch this episode. Not a member? Join here.

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Taylor, Princess of Sexy Data, who requested a deep dive into the infamous CNN Parkettes documentary, Achieving the Perfect 10, that we can all quote by heart. We discuss Background What's the deal with Parkettes? The legacy of this piece Jessica's experience going to the Parkettes camp as a youth (!) Why we think Parkettes agreed to this Part 1: A 7-year-old with a broken ankle TOPs testing gives Spencer a panic attack How NOT to sound like a creeper when talking about a 7-year-old Everyone says "suck it up" 100,000 times because healthy We root for everyone to quit and go to a pool party Part 2: Get confident, stupid Demeaning people definitely makes them more confident The Mrs hates everyone, especially gymnasts, and teenagers, and you Jessica is still fawning over Nicole Harris to this day Part 3: Annie, are you OK? "Do you just think it's more important to have bobbles so people will give you attentions?" Why we're obsessed with deadpan comedy genius Annie Fogerty OH GOOD THE WEIGHT PORTION, THIS WILL GO WELL "Way to give up, Annie, way to give up" "Was that a try, what you just did? What kind of a try? Is there such a thing as a quitter's try, like lackadaisical?" What exactly is a quitter's try? The Kristie Phillips cautionary tale Part 4: Aftermath Where are they now? What this says about elite gymnastics, and why USAG learned all the wrong lessons from how horrified we are by it The problem with typical American parents' view of sports SUPPORT THE SHOW Join Club Gym Nerd here. Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. RELATED EPISODES 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)  

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)

Simone returned to the podium and didn’t die on her beam dismount; Chenchen remained the beam queen, historic medal for Turkey on Pbars from Arican, Zou regained his p-bars crown;  Sam Mikulak went out with a happy hit and Daiki’s HB was redonkulously good.

Jade Carey is an Olympic Champion!  The first Olympic medal for Vanessa Ferrari, 2006 World AA Champion and FOUR time Olympian! Second Olympic medals in women’s gymnastics EVER for Italy and Japan  First gymnastics Olympic medal for Armenia with Artur Davtyan’s bronze on vault Shin Jeahawn won gold on vault for Korea.There were two sets of ties in vault finals. We’ll explain how they were broken.  Liu Yang won gold on rings for China proving that judges aren’t above some bonus points for a slow jazz head roll mid-iron cross!  There was an UNBROKEN tie between Melnikova and Mai and they gave eachother their flowers!

First Olympic Champion in gymnastics for Israel - Dolgypyat on floor! Brazil's first ever Olympic Champion in women’s  gymnastics, Rebeca Andrade for Vault!  Yeo Seojeong with the first ever South Korean women’s Olympic medal, a bronze on vault! Nina Derwael with Belgium's first Olympic medal period for women’s gymnastic, our new Olympic bars champion! Why Jade Carey is an absolute ninja with cat like reflexes that saved her on vault.  Why tie breakers suck; how Jessica disagrees with Spencer and Kensley's assessment of the meet as a whole and a big giant silver medal for MyKayla Skinner that affirms that she belongs here! 

All the details you didn't see on tv, direct from Tokyo. Sunisa Lee almost flew off bars but WISELY changed both her floor and beam routines to become the first ever Asian American, Hmong, all around Olympics Champion. Rebeca Andrade came back from three ACL surgeries to win silver with a gorgeous Cheng, and Melnikova proved her place after winning gold with her team. Plus all the deets from your favorites like Popa, Jade and Brooklyn. 

Details from the last dramatic rotation, the surprise .3 neutral deduction for Xiao Ruoteng, what Nagorny said about his third place place finish and our updates on Simone scratching from AA Finals. 

Historic moment when Simone scratched for mental health reasons Russia winning team gold for the first time EVER! British winning bronze for the first time in 90+ years!  Heroic moments abound in this super competitive, mega exciting women's team final