GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

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COVID or Correct Jan 13, 2021

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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.

NCAA NEWS

The season has started! We run through who's leading the team rankings (and who's leading the lesbian rankings), which teams exceeded expectations, who was successfully NOT BASIC, our favorite gymnasts of all time this week, and who needs to be taken to the honesty corner.
COVID or Correct: Who was correct, and who's getting COVID (and who's getting Bonus COVID). We didn't come here to make friends; we came here to not be in pandemics. Plus, LSU got back to us about Gym 101.
Crack or Correct: What happens when you're crying too much to salute? And when does a fall get you a 9.600?

GYMTERNET NEWS

Raphael Warnock is Simone Biles, Alaska is owning the fundraising game, is it fair for athletes to jump the line for vaccines, Kerri Strug has a beer named after her, senior member Dick Pound has spoken, and Eythora says she doesn't want to go to Tokyo.

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454: It's the Olympic Year. Again. Jan 06, 2021

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HEADLINES

MyKayla Skinner's adventures with COVID and pneumonia and Oleg Verniaiev's provisional suspension by the FIG lead our news discussion this week.

2020 IN REVIEW

We managed to find a couple highlights (18 to be exact) in the gymnastics year that was, from Chellsie Memmel to Simone's vault to Guan Chenchen's beam to Derrian Gobourne to a very special award for Marta Pihan-Kulesza.

2021 IN PREVIEW

We run down the storylines we're excited to follow in 2021 with a roadmap for the year ahead, and Spencer goes through the painstaking task of forcing Jessica to make her official 4-member (and only 4!) US Olympic team prediction.

COLLEGE GYM

The college gymnastics season begins this week. We discuss who's not competing, who is competing, and why, and how. Plus, do we think any teams will intentionally forgo the season?

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453: European Championships of Feelings with Olly Hogben Dec 23, 2020

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WOMEN'S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Olly Hogben is with us this week to discuss everything that happened at European Championships last weekend including

Larisa Iordache's Simone Slam in her return to international competition
Ukraine's dramatic team final victory and the saga of Larisa's floor routine
Goksu Uctas Sanli and the floor inquiry heard 'round the world
Nation after nation making first-time history
The travails of Luxembourg's quest to qualify to the team final
Don't miss: Olly being so eloquent about the beauty of humanity and sport that he makes Jessica cry

THERE'S MORE

In the gymternet news, LSU's Gymnastics 101 provokes an epic COVID rage-o-meter, including this article in Time about cancelling college season. Plus, we discuss USAG's athlete bill of rights, Gymnasts for Change, and a paper on bias in gymnastics judging.

HOW TO COPE WHILE WE ARE ON VACATION

Watch our Fundraiser for Feeding America where we instructed the gymnastics world on proper artistry: How Not To Be Basic
Listen to Jessica's interview with The End of Sports podcast
The Shift Show where Jessica and Dave Tilly nerd out about science and gymnastics culture
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Bias in Gymnastics series LGBT panel moderated by Ms. O'Beirne.
Listen to our archives here.

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452: A Beam REVELATION Dec 16, 2020

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WATCH HERE

Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded (pre-edits with all the bloopers and blunders that don't make it onto the final show) 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.

THIS WEEK

Fact Check Fix: DisneyWorld requires masks, actual masks. Sally Jenkins, not Macur wrote the mean article about Jamie Dantzcher and the 2000 Sydney US team.
Maggie Haney's suspension was reduced from 8 years to 5. We have...some notes.
Japan might change the Olympic selection rules just for Kohei
Ukraine won the men's European Superspreader Championship, Robert Tvorogal upset Tin Srbic, and Marian Dragulescu vaulted...something
A preview of this week's women's European Superspreader Championship, starring Larisa Iordache
Murakami Mai, Uchimura Kohei, and all the major stories from the All-Japan Championships, including Jessica's new favorite beam routine of all time from Takagi Ai
USAG confirms a Women's Winter Cup for 2021
Plus, Heath is reinventing high bar, Sanne is reinventing uneven bars, and Asher Hong is the best MAG vaulter in the US.

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451: Caring Too Much Dec 09, 2020

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CONTEST

WIN: Club Gym Nerd membership and any item you want from the GymCastic store HOW: Record a voice memo* on your phone (30 sec max) about why you became a member or want to support the show. Email it to us, along with the item you want from the store (color, mailing address etc.) BONUS POINTS: Use hashtag #ClubGymNerd @Gymcastic Instagram or Twitter and we will count it as an additional entry. Be creative as possible: a song, poem, haiku, heartfelt message, the funnier the better. DEADLINE: On December 12 we will pick three winners from our favorites. * We will use your recording on the podcast. You can make it anonymous.

GYMTERNET NEWS

That Maggie Haney NYT puff piece. We have...a couple of thoughts.
That video of the parents. We have...some additional thoughts
Pauline Schäfer and the latest Gymnast Alliance news from Germany
Rachael Denhollander ripped the SafeSport CEO a new one
Larisa Iordache has been added to the Romanian team for this month's European Championship
The GAGE elites showed off their upgrades, like this and this
COVID News: It's bad! And Rebeca Andrade and Flavia Saraiva and multiple people from Rhythmic Euros have it!
Shane Wiskus appeared on 60 Minutes and Jessica has many thoughts on men's college programs and their fundraising failures.
Gymnastics dodged a gender equity bullet, but Olympic sports and the IOC requirements remain sexist
Plus, your feedback on surprising twins and a Cheryl Hamilton face conspiracy

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Gym Nerd School 101

450: Gym Nerd School 101 Dec 02, 2020

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Video of today's podcast is available to ALL LISTENERS, Club Gym Nerd or not, because we have some critical visual aids as part of the lesson plan. Not a member? Join here.

GYM NERD SCHOOL 101

Welcome to the first episode of Gym Nerd School, an educational series where we will explain rules, skills, myths, jargon, and important gym nerd history—all based on your questions! Today:

What does it mean to be an "elite"?
The Code of Points, leotard rules, and named skills
Why don't they use the 10 anymore?
Why are leaps named for animals, how do I tell them apart, and no really WHYYYYYY?
How do I tell the difference between a split leap full and a switch leap full?
How do I tell the difference between those one-arm pirouettes—the Ono, Healy, and Ling?
Why do people yell, "IT WAS A DELTCHEV"????

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449: Larisa's Back! Nov 25, 2020

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WATCH HERE

MEET NEWS

Larisa Iordache returned from a three-year hiatus to compete at the Romanian national championship! We discuss her performance and possible path to Olympic qualification. Silviana Sfiringu is the Romanian national all-around champion, new queen of beam saves, and possible bars savior; we're very into Ioana Stanciulescu's beam routine; and junior Ana Maria Barbosu might rule them all. Plus, the ways in which the Olympic qualification system has personally victimized Romania and how tentatively optimistic we should be about the future of the Romanian women's team.

GYMTERNET NEWS

The latest on December's European Championship that's still happening
Leanne Wong's power move during NCAA signing week
Who's canceling the NCAA season and who's still truckin'
Shane Wiskus is moving on
Plus, news on Taylor Lindsay-Noel, Maria Paseka's husband, Yin Alvarez, North Korean gymnastics defectors, and Jessica and Spencer losing their minds for a while

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448: The SafeSport Hack Nov 18, 2020

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THIS WEEK

Riley McCusker is suing Maggie Haney. We discuss all the most horrifying parts of this story, including Haney's response.
INTERVIEW: Gymnast activist Abbie Hillis and cybersecurity expert Dr. Betsy Cooper are here to discuss the Center for SafeSport being hacked almost two months ago and the lack of notification of athletes.
This week's Skill of the Week segment that's actually like 4 skills, with analysis of the rollercoaster that is being a US junior champion.
INTERVIEW: Coach Denis Vachon is here to discuss coaching an athlete through transition.

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Russian & Italian Nationals Nov 11, 2020

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RUSSIAN NATIONALS

Tatiana Nabieva is the national vault champion for 2020 and all is right with the world, Maria Kharenkova is the Russian beam champion despite no longer competing for Russia, everyone needs to leave Elena Eremina alone, Uliana Perebinosova delivered Derwael-Fenton realness to win the AA, Ekaterina Boeva showed us how to feel about wolf turns, whose floor routine was the most "pain of a nation," and a whole lot more.

ITALIAN NATIONALS

Asia D'Amato and Giorgia Villa tied for the national title, Giorgia Villa's Bhardwaj is still to die for, Stuttgart alternate Martina Maggio is stepping it up, we think we're really excited about Alice D'Amato's floor routine, and junior Angela Andreoli may have stolen the whole show.

WATCH HERE

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PAST EPISODES

Gymnastics International Episode 3: Chinese Individual Nationals Gymnastics International Episode 2: Szombathely World Cup Gymnastics International Episode 1: Chinese and Japanese Nationals

447: Butt Spins for Friendship Nov 09, 2020

Show notes

WATCH HERE

MEET NEWS

The Friendship and Solidarity Competition in Tokyo went off without a hitch! At least...if you don't count the gymnastics. We discuss:

COVID protocols and fancy special spraying machines
Japan just hosting all the gymnastics now and forever. We might be fine with it
Angelina Melnikova is having a GREAT pandemic, and Nikita Nagornyy's is pretty good too
Sophia Butler and Yana Vorona delivering our skills (well, combinations) of the week
Kohei things and casual middle-school Yurchenko 2.5s
The difference between a Tsukahara (Tsuk) and a Kazamatsu (Kaz) vault.
Plus, the statuses of Shilese Jones and eMjae Frazier, comeback performances from Zhang Jin and Chiaki Hatakeda, whether we should be worried about Artur Dalaloyan, and which events are jinxed (all of them)
Jessica and Kensley's feelings corner and international friendships and world peace and whatnot

GYMTERNET NEWS

Who's pulling out of Euros now, contingency plans for holding an Olympics with fans, Gymnast Alliance news from Switzerland, and a (shockingly non-ironic) coaching award for Bellu and Bitang.

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