GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Nellie Kim Code Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

THE KIMS: What are all the elements named after Nellie Kim in the code of points? Who actually performed them first and when/what competition? Did Nellie Kim ever perform them, and when did she perform them for the first time? When did she name them after herself?

This is our commission giveaway episode! We gave away a full commissioned episode to one randomly drawn Club Gym Nerd member, and the winner was Inga, who really came through and commissioned an episode on:

The Nellie of it all

Who is Nellie Kim, and how did she become one of the most powerful people in gymnastics?
Why does she have 7 skills named after herself in the Code of Points, and when did that happen?
The badass revelation that was her vaulting in 1976
Skill-by-skill:
- We take each of the Kims in turn: which ones are totally legit (at least one! Potentially some!), which ones reflect the hustle of a winner, which are just the most brazen attention grabs, and which are just the silliest

The Playlist

Kim I Kim II Kim III Kim IV Kim V Kim VI Kim VII

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Gabby Freakin' Douglas
Full scores from US National Team Camp
The Melanie Over America Tour
Ashley Miles Greig
Simone Biles and Suni Lee are Back
Gymnastics' Dumbest Rules
Behind The Scenes:
- Fireworks
- The Bladder
Asian Championships & Worlds Qualification
1984 Fight: Olympics vs Olomouc
She Was Robbed!

Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

The Return of Gabby Freakin Douglas Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

We are posting some of our weekly Behind The Scenes Q&A live podcast is for Club Gym Nerd members because Jessica lost her voice from squealing too much about Gabby. Here's how to ask questions live. We discussed:

- Everything about the Gabby Douglas official return announcement!
  - No, literally everything -- start values skills, her competition strategy, how she could petition to Classic, how she can do the World Cup circuit and only go to camp once, how to avoid national team camp all together if she doesn't want to ever go to camp etc. etc
    - Spencer explains Gabby's Ling vs a Bi/Ono bars turn

National Team Camp scores and start values
- Simone Biles's all-around domination and which vaults she's competing.
- Who got hit hardest on scoring
- E score drama
- Extrapolating an all black Olympic team from camp results (full scores on our website)

To continue the conversation, just login to your Club Gym Nerd account.

Not a member? Join here. Not sure if you are ready to join? Watch College & Cocktails week one for free here.

The Melanie Over America Tour Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

The US camp roster featuring Simone Biles, Trinity Thomas's elite return, Chuso dropping out of Worlds, Iordache not coming back, Eli Seitz continuing to dominate, and more.

American Classic

We begin by gushing about Melanie de Jesus dos Santos's beam routine and why it might be the best one she has ever done
Kayla DiCello returns to elite competition for the first time since NCAA
Myli Lew took the all-around title with one of the top bars scores in the US this year
Amelia Disidore said AMPLITUDE
The juniors are going to be OK—floor routines from Aki Tanda and Reese Esponda

Gymternet News

Russia and Belarus have been cleared to compete at Asian Games. What does that mean for gymnastics?
Plus, the Livvy Fund, dream Worlds hosts, and more from around the gymternet

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Ashley Miles Greig
Simone Biles and Suni Lee are Back
Gymnastics' Dumbest Rules
Behind The Scenes:
- Fireworks
- The Bladder
Asian Championships & Worlds Qualification
1984 Fight: Olympics vs Olomouc
She Was Robbed!

Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

Ashley Miles Greig Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

The Alabama legend has returned to the NCAA, this time as one of the few black head coaches in college gymnastics. The "tall" (actually just slightly above average at almost 5'8") Miles Greig won a bronze medal with the U.S. team at the 2001 World Championships and made vault finals. She won the Honda Award (college gymnast of the year) and was a 4x NCAA Champion. We discuss:

Why she idolized Elena Produnova.
Which skills were hardest for her to learn.
Which skill Simone Biles and Daiane Dos Santos competed that she also trained.
Her experiences with Martha Karolyi and national team camp at The Ranch.
Did she hate double tuck jumps as much as the fans did?
What it was like competing with Raducan and Khorkina.
If her height effected her gymnastics and experience with elite training and the advantage it gives her in coaching.
How her family and friends protected her from unhealthy comments during her career.
Transitioning to gymnastics at the University of Alabama and why she decided to become a sports commentator.
The struggle that led her out of the business world and into coaching.
What she wants every Iowa State gymnast to feel when they graduate from her program.
How she plans to change the dynamic in the gym following the rough year the team had in 2022.

Gymternet News

Best scores in the world: Summer update
- A rundown of the top routines in the world on each event following continental championships
Dutch Nationals update: Bart's Fall Timing
Trinity Thomas announced her return to elite
Plus, all the news on the Paris police raid and NCAA gymnastics moving and shaking
Kensley has a new MAG website!

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

Special Episode: Simone Biles & Suni Lee Are Back Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

It's HAPPENINGGGGGGG

The roster for US Classic is out, and Olympic all-around champions Simone Biles and Suni Lee are both on it! In this breaking news mini-sode, we discuss:

- How remarkable and (nearly) unprecedented it is to have two Olympic AA champions compete together in the same meet
- Are we surprised by Simone's return? The timing?
- How do Simone's 2021 routines hold up in the new code of points?
- What Simone could have in common with president Grover Cleveland, and other facts about her return to competition
- How will the end of Suni's 2023 college season affect expectations for her elite path in 2023?

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

Gymnastics' Dumbest Rules Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

Today, we're calling out the worst, stupidest, most self-defeating and awkward rules and conventions in gymnastics, starting with...

Leotard Rules - aka the Olympics of regulating women's bodies
- Venture with us to a world where "elegant," "proper," and "modest" are all words found in the official rule book of a competitive sport in the year 2023—and breasts are expressly prohibited
Why Is Gymnastics Still the Military?
- Saluting and lining up in front of the generals for inspection? Where are we?
The Apparatus World Cup of Stupidity
- From the assumption that all women are the same height, to what the FIG considers to be "undisciplined and abusive behavior," to that thing where a double front doesn't fulfill the front tumbling requirement, we take on the worst rules on each event
Rules Mythbusters
- Things someone (usually Martha) pretended were rules, and everyone believed it, but they actually aren't
Plus, they may not be rules, but some old-fashioned and infantile gymnastics conventions are on our list!

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

Road to Paris: Asian Championships and Worlds Qualification Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Did Mr. Sacramone acci-purposely leak Simone's return?
Asian Championships
- Who qualified to worlds and who missed out?
- How did Aleah Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo do representing the Philippines in their returns to elite competition?
- Breaking down what Olympic pathways remain for Chuso and Malabuyo
- The new seniors impressing for the champion Chinese team—and how they measure up to the rest of the world
- Plus, what country is going to surprise in Antwerp, the biggest upset of worlds qualification, and the one gymnast who should get above a 5 in execution
Melanie returned to elite competition at French Nationals, winning bars
Japan finished naming its worlds teams and confirmed our all-beam, all-the-time dreams
A BIG score-mistake controversy from the Osijek World Cup
Plus, crazy new bars combination from Sanna Veerman all the headlines from around the gymternet

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Asian Champs Episode Video Playlist
Behind The Scenes: Suni's Home
Behind The Scenes: Sportsball Straight Breaks News
1984 Fight: Olympics vs Olomouc
Behind the Scenes: June 14
She Was Robbed!
Mexico's Moment
Logistical Sweating & the Emma Spence Interview
History's Best Beam Routines
Gymnastics Mythbusters 4.0
Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
Photo Galleries from NCAAs
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

1984 Fight: Olympic Games vs Olomouc Friendship Games Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

1984 FIGHT!

Opening Assumption: Athletes from the Eastern Bloc would have won all the golds and nearly every medal at the 1984 Olympics had they attended. The 1984 Olympic medals, while amazing accomplishments, do not mean you were "best in the world" in 1984. Is that actually true? Today, we're putting it to the test.

Part 1: Gymnastics history with Jessica and Spencer. What happened in 1984 and why? What were the Friendship Games, and why are gymnerds so obsessed with them?
Should the results from the 1984 Olympics have an asterisk because of who was absent? What about the similarly boycotted 1980 Olympics? What about any event where the top athlete was absent?
Why footage from Olomouc is one of the gymternet's greatest triumphs
Part 2: Event-by-event. We take each event in turn and compare the routines, Olympics vs. Olomouc
What the Soviet vaulting taught us about the importance of Yurchenkos
What Ma Yanhong taught us about ROV and beam choreography
Olga Mostepanova's beam, end of conversation
The importance of Irina Baraksanova's floor, and why Szabo and McNamara getting the same score in the floor final remains a TRAVESTY
And finally...our ultimate 1984 verdict

Watch Olomouc

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Dunham Technique
Katherine Dunham Library of Congress
364: 80s Fight!
She Was Robbed!
Behind the Scenes: June 9
Mexico's Moment
Logistical Sweating & the Emma Spence Interview
History's Best Beam Routines
Gymnastics Mythbusters 4.0
Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
Photo Galleries from NCAAs
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

She Was Robbed: Gymnastics' Biggest Medal Thefts Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

SHE WAS ROBBED!

Today, we take on the most dramatic, heinous, unforgettable robberies in gymnastics history and declare who really should have won that gold (or bronze).

The 1992 Olympic All-Around: Was Shannon robbed???
The 1988 Olympic All-Around: Was Silivas robbed???
Un-American Heresy: We reassess the 1984 Olympic final and 2011 worlds all-around
By Why Would I Be Second? We bring in the CSI team to pick apart the 2008 Olympic bars final, with shocking results
Not Guilty: We take on a famous Olympic controversy in which there is actually no hint of robbery anywhere
Deep Cuts: The 1996 vault final, the 1997 beam final, the 1980 beam final, and other moments we feel too strongly about
Pickpockets and Pirates: Robbery through tie breaks, decimals, and other things out of the judges hands
Bronze Is Still a Precious Medal: The 2004 all-around, the 2008 Olympic vault final, and other painful bronze results

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned)
Behind The Scenes Jungle Gym
Behind The Scenes: Medellín
Mexico's Moment
Logistical Sweating & the Emma Spence Interview
History's Best Beam Routines
Gymnastics Mythbusters 4.0
2023 NCAA Championships
Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
Photo Galleries from NCAAs
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

MORE WAYS TO LISTEN HERE

Mexico's Moment May 30, 2023

Show notes

The Pan-American Championships saw the US women win team gold alongside a stellar performance from the Mexican women's team that earned silver
We continue gushing about Mexico's meet (the vault difficulty! the dramatic bars! the leap completion!) and assess how they would have stacked up at worlds last year
Which fan favorites qualified to worlds as individuals, which didn't, and what was most surprising about this weekend's race to keep Olympic hopes alive
Event titles for Alexa Moreno, Nola Matthews, Tiana Sumanasekera, and Josc Roberson, and a special shout-out to everyone who is doing a double front at 30.
At African Championships, Kaylia Nemour made all our dreams come true, Sandra Elsadek qualified to worlds, and South Africa turned the tables on Egypt
Qiu Qiyuan continued to be the star of Chinese Nationals, with titles in the AA and on bars and beam, and Ou Yushan took silver with the whip, whip, 3/1 that dreams are made of
Plus, Shang Chunsong putting all those young whippersnappers to shame, exciting work on bars from Huang Zhuofan and beam from Zhang Qingying, and we wonder whether it's time to start panicking about the state of China's vaulting

JOIN CLUB GYM NERD

Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and see some of the gymnastics we discuss, plus get access to all of our exclusive interviews and Behind The Scenes episodes.
Not sure about joining the club? College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.
We have a Ukraine Fundraiser design, all proceeds go to the CARE Ukraine Crisis fund.

RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES

Logistical Sweating & the Emma Spence Interview
History's Best Beam Routines
Gymnastics Mythbusters 4.0
2023 NCAA Championships
Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files
- Project K Episode 2
- Project K Episode 1
Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
Photo Galleries from NCAAs
The Highest D and E scores from The Gymternet

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