GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

Latest Episodes:

374: Where We've Been and Where We're Heading (Commissioned) Jul 11, 2019

Show notes

In the second episode commissioned by the Participation Sisters, we talk about...ourselves? They've commissioned an episode called The GymCastic Podcast: Where We've been and Where We're Heading, saying very nice things like: "GymCastic has given gym fans everything we always knew we always wanted but weren't getting from major news outlets: Weekly in-depth updates, impassioned and informed stances on both serious and trivial topics, interviews with past and former athletes and coaches, Rage-O-Meters, and more. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, GymCastic is ushering in a new paradigm for gymnastics reportage -- authentic, humorous, and hard-hitting. Many of us are curious about the evolution of the podcast. We'd love you to give us a "behind the scenes" look into how you got started, and where you hope to be in the future." We answer questions like

How did you get started?
How did Jess meet Spencer?
How do/did you juggle your day job with your podcast?
What was your first interview like, and how has your interview style evolved based on lessons learned?
How did you fall in LOVE with gymnastics?
What has been the most challenging interview?
If you had an unlimited budget, what would GymCastic evolve into?
What does your "realistic" road map look like for the future?

If you like this episode you will also enjoy, Episode 100. This is the shamelessly vainglorious episode where we answer all of your questions about our irrelevant personal lives, and the origins of show, includes hosts Dr. Uncle Tim, Blythe, Evan and Jessica.

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

373: Nabieva Returns and Morgan Hurd Special Announcement Jul 09, 2019

Show notes

BUM-BUM-BUMMMMMMMM

To start things off this week, we are joined by a little someone you might have heard of named Morgan Hurd, who has a special announcement about an exciting new project (WATCH HERE) she's been working on. The sound you hear from coast-to-coast is Jessica screaming (literally). Then Scott Bregman chats with us about how this project came to be and all the deets you need to know. What is it? "All Around" launches on Tuesday, 6 August with new episodes each month for the next year. Where can I watch? "All Around" can be watched on the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Channel which is available worldwide at olympicchannel.com, its mobile apps and on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon and Android TV. It is subscription-free so you do not need a television subscription. In addition to the online episodes, we will be creating and posting exclusive content such as diaries and personal photos on social media in between episodes. What about TV? In the United States, episodes will be available on the cable network "Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA" in 2020.

UNIVERSITY GAMES

NAAABBBBSS. Nabs Nabs Nabs. Nabs.
Did we mention Nabieva is back?
Spencer breaks down her every move like a stalker, including the amazing (medaling on everything she did), the neutral deduction on bars because Nabieva, the slow-motion replay of her beam scratch, the muttering magical spells for 7 hours, and the high-five she intercepted because it was probably for her
Do we celebrate when other athletes make mistakes? A gymnastics etiquette controversy
Cause of death: Lilia Akhaimova
Plus, UNACCEPTABLE shushing and springboard use and PBars inquiry drama

MEN'S NATIONAL QUALIFIER

News on who qualified, what happened to Donnell Whittenburg, the dumb-ass points system, and Sam Mikulak's high bar upgrade
A special vicarious rage-0-meter from Kensley about coverage of US men's gymnastics
Should the national governing body have to give equal time to all its disciplines, or should it follow the audience size?

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

372: Junior Worlds and Gymternet News Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

JUNIOR WORLDS

Athletes from around the world gathered in Hungary for the inaugural junior world championship.

Thoughts on the concept of this meet: Does it undermine the purpose of an age limit in women's competition? Is it just a front for an elaborate conspiracy and other agendas (YES)?
We didn't get to watch the team/AA competition because the FIG is terrible at this
Coronation of the Russian junior amazing brilliant amazingness: with a special attention to Listunova's floor and important facial expressions
China's surprise team silver medal, with love for Ou Yushan's floor routine and China's competitive floor scores. You heard that right.
The US won bronze in the team competition and Jessica has a RAGE-O-METER for those of you who might have a problem with this. Spencer has a QUIETER-O-METER about pretending competitions were amazing even when they were OK
Jennifer. Gadirova. End of lesson.
Romania...might survive?
Words for that googly-eyed chicken and its focus-pulling chicken baby

GYMTERNET NEWS AND FEEDBACK

Alyona Shchennikova's Achilles
The James Hall Body Hair Removal Service
NCAA coaching hires
US Olympic NGBs received a...you guessed it...F for self-governance
University Games and Men's National Qualifier this week
Feedback on what you call a group of kids, body type and judging bias, toes definitely not hurting, and more

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

FURTHER READING

RELATED EPISODES

371: European Games 2019 Jul 02, 2019

Show notes

EUROPEAN GAMES In our first episode of the week (look out for a junior worlds/gymternet news episode later in the week where we tell you all to GET A GRIP about the US performance), we take on the events of the second-ever European Games, which is definitely not the European Championships, you guys. Don't even think that it is. Because it's not.

Complaining about the format: 18 people in the AA final? Six in event finals?? One per country??? Top women's AA qualifiers starting on bars???? This is not how it goes, European Games. Not how it goes.
Fangirling the queen: Angelina Melnikova edition. She had kind of an amazing meet and even hit beam all of the times.
Success for France, Ukraine being too Ukraine to function, and why the splatfest of an all-around final was definitely the fault of that damn personal-space-violating fox.
The case of the last-minute allergic reaction
Nina's rollercoaster from bars fall to all-time ANGER BEAM
Why 80-hour, mid-meet medal ceremonies are not OK
Oh also Putin was there (???????)
Kick-ass things to do with your medals
Where does all-around champion Belyavskiy currently fit in the Russian hierarchy?
Oleg is back...right...RIGHT?

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

FURTHER READING

RELATED EPISODES

370: Free Mai Jun 26, 2019

Show notes

In our second episode of the week covering the gymternet news only. Earlier this week we took a deep dive into the events of the American Classic, the first "big" elite meet of the summer. Let us know if you like the new format. STORIES OF THE WEEK

Japan has gone crazy — Mai Murakami is not on Japan's worlds team, despite being healthy and MAI. Spencer explains how this travesty has been allowed to occur because of Japan's unnecessarily intransigent, early, and all-around-focused selection process
- Kohei and Kenzo are ALSO not on Japan's worlds team (pause for gasps), though it's kind of a different situation going on there
USAG is making rules again — Jessica takes us inside the world of the Leotard Cut Debacle and new USAG leo rules that had the gym-parent community up in arms this month
- The new Safe Sport regulations are out, which are good in theory but we have some questions about grooming, practicality, and spelling
- New selection procedures — changes to the women's Olympic team selection, the Simone Clause, the independent observer, and WHAT ON EARTH is going on with the athlete rep situation
- The junior worlds team has been named, and the Pan Ams training squad is official
The US men went to Japan – Kensley has an update on the US men's journey to Japan and what the US can learn from Japan's approach to MAG

GYMTERNET NEWS

Depression news: Rebeca Andrade has suffered another ACL injury, Parkettes coach John Holman has been restricted, Bailie Key has retired, and more
Skill news: Yeo Seojeong has a new front handspring 2/1 vault that she landed successfully at Korea Cup, and Keisuke Asato is training a piked Ri Se Gwang
Squeal news: Jessica has things to say about wrestling, littles overcoming obstacles, and gymnastics babies

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

2019 American Classic Jun 25, 2019

Show notes

AMERICAN CLASSIC

In our first episode of the week (look out for a gymternet news episode where we fight for justice for Mai Murakami later in the week), we take a deep dive into the events of the American Classic, the first "big" elite meet of the summer. You can rewatch (or just watch) the replay streams on USAG's Youtube.

General "what even is this meet" thoughts about...what even is this meet...and whether USAG needs to try to make it an actual event, with a gentle reminder that it's verrrrry early
Fangirling the queens: Faith Torrez and Ciena Alipio — why Faith Torrez was so much better than everyone else here, and what Ciena Alipio has in common with Ukrainians
Opportunities for comedy: Thank you to Emily Lee, Mia Heather, Ciena Alipio, and little Hopes gymnast for fulfilling the true prophecy and point of gymnastics by delivering the moments of the meet
Sunisa Lee's Nabieva + Bhardwaj. YOU GUYS. I MEAN...
The new juniors we're now officially obsessed with. Spoiler: it's all of them.
Spencer's opportunity to stop all this insufferable, deflating positivity and fill his metaphorical chalk bucket with refreshing negativity about some unpleasant trends
What we noticed from the seniors, including an episode CSI: Code of Points

GYMCASTIC GLOBAL

Dutch Nationals gave us a fight between Casimir Schmidt and Bart Deurloo on the men's side for who has the best (most) tattoos, while Naomi Visser continues to be the talk of the town, and LIEKE WEVERS IS BACK
Nina Derwael upgraded her bars routine again at the FIT Challenge, adding a casual new Stalder Tkatchev piked. To her Nabieva. And Derwael-Fenton.
History for Taiwan at the Asian Championships

FURTHER READING

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

368: No-No-Nunnoisms (Commissioned) Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd members The Participation Sisters, who requested an episode called No-No Nunnoisms: The Era of Larger-Than-Life Coaches (and why it needed to end). Disclaimer: We're going to laugh about some of this stuff, and we also know Bela is horrible.

Is Bela Karolyi patient zero for this kind of gymnastics coaching?
Inside the belief that you needed an impassioned man to coach you to Olympic success (barf barf barf barf barf), and then the times when that was (sigh) actually true.
NBC's obsession with Bela Karolyi
- That horrific 1996 fluff piece on Kerri Strug — His defeat? The only man who could make her dreams come true? That boat-rowing methodology? OH HELL NO.
- "Bela's girls"
- Obviously, Spencer can't resist talking about that creep-burger 1995 Moceanu fluff or crazy 1992 articles
Exaggerating the important of coaches by minimizing the athletes as "little girls," even when they're adults
Bela and Nunno and the 1992 Trials war of words
What have we (or should we have) learned from that era about the culture of the sport
Have we come out of the era of larger-than-life coaches?

FURTHER READING

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship (Commissioned) Jun 11, 2019

Show notes

This week's episode has been commissioned by Brad, who commissioned this very special edition of GymCastic as a surprise gift for his girlfriend Tricia. We present...Shawn and Nastia: From Feud to Friendship.

All the makings of a classic rivalry—the preordained champion with OLYMPIC DNA LEGACY OMG, versus the little upstart from Iowa corn-fed-doo-dee-doo who just bounced along bouncily
The context of the new open-ended code and the BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT
Who ultimately won that battle?
The narrative of Nastia as "form" and Shawn as "power"—the aspects in which that holds up, and the aspects in which it definitely doesn't. Enough time has passed that we can get real about some of these skills.
"Nastia won the 2008 all-around because the Olympic judges loved her international look." We dive into that garbage barge and burn it from the inside.
The fan feud: Team Nastia or Team Shawn. You must pick a side.
The culture war imposed on Shawn and Nastia. The "all-American girl next door" versus "the foreigner" and how that influenced THE FEUD.
And then Jessica officially pops off about the constant adjudication of whether prominent women are "best friends" or in a "catfight." (Psychology Today)

FURTHER READING

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

366: Virtuous Value Parts Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

GYMTERNET NEWS

Simone's upgrades! (EEEEEE)
That Sarah Finnegan abortion broom internet scam
Terin Humphrey was fired from USAG
What exactly is the virtuous performance of a value part?
NCAA coaching developments and rule proposals
Aliya's injury (NOOOOOOO)
- Nabieva is back on national team (Spencer has a tribute here)
Ashton Locklear retires
A rousing game of "The British Call It What?" hosted by Kensley (56:56)

MEET NEWS (1:14:18)

Canadian Nationals
- The Ellie Black/Ana Padurariu rivalry delivers another classic
- Brooklyn Moors tore her heart out for our sins
- Shallon Olsen has never slept ever, apparently
World Challenge Cups
- Vault debacles—stopped runs and ad-board headbutts
- Rhys McClenaghan is back and recording huge PH scores
- Tomas. Gonzalez. Spencer needs some smelling salts.
- Trends in women's floor composition for fans of dance elements
- Goksu Uctas Sanli is everything we want in women's gymnastics
- Bars, er, um, didn't go great
Australian Nationals - updates on national champion Georgia Godwin, the state of Australia's chances to make the Olympics, and Heath Thorpe

PLUS

MAN DRAMA! (1:51:18) Kensley updates us on the proposals (they're just proposals, you guys) for drastic changes in men's college gymnastics, the suspect claims being made about how wonderful they're going to be, and the twitter fight that ensued. DEVO CAMP! (1:04:53) We are joined by Lauren Stevens of the Chalk Warrior who attended the most recent developmental camp at Flip Fest and is here to give us all the inside scoop, what she was surprised by, and encouraging news about tonal and cultural changes in the USAG system.

FURTHER READING

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

365: 1988 Olympics Team Competition Commissioned May 29, 2019

Show notes

The hair Olympics! And also gymnastics. But mostly hair! This week, we have a commissioned episode from Club Gym Nerd member Billy, who asked for an episode all about the team competition at the 1988 Olympics saying, "have fun with all the 80s styles and music." We don't need to be told twice.

Setting the scene
- Check out last week's 80s FIGHT episode for all the Romanian/Soviet lead-up drama to the 1988 Olympics
- Updates on the age falsification discussion from last week, featuring Soviets who were underage too
- Jessica finds an excuse to talk about another HBO show she's obsessed with
- Here is a video of then-FIG President Yuri Titov lying about Elena Mukhina being paralyzed (Thank you, Boris for sending us this video)
Compulsories - perfection and politics
- We gush about the wonders of compulsories and pick out the skills from the 1988 compulsory routines that we would put in our dream 2019 compulsories
- Because of being an insufferable form queen, Spencer freaks out about people's leg positions and fake 10s for gymnasts from famous countries
- A fluff piece about acid wash jorts. Also Chelle Stack and Bela and weight and EVERYTHING'S FINE HERE.
The 0.5 deduction for the US team
- What was the actual rule? Was the deduction for the US an appropriate reading of that rule?
- How did the Bela/Ellen Berger feud play into the deduction?
- Whose fault was it really? (Spoiler: it's Bela's)
Team optionals
- Do the Bulgarians have the biggest gripe?
- A mild divorce over whether a tucked tkatchev would be hard
- EAST GERMANY WAS OVERSCORED
- Mullets. A deep controversy about the proper physics of a mullet.
- The imperfect 10. Is it acceptable or not?
- Which floor routine best encapsulates the 1980s—Silivas or Kersten?
- Interpreting Romania's intended wiggles on beam, here and here
- East German leos - pleather or rubber or substance not of this earth?
- The Strazheva Moment
- Why didn't Silivas save the double double for finals?
- Spencer says something very controversial about the US beam rotation
- The Soviet Cowboy: An Analysis
- Creepy things that happened after the competition

FURTHER READING

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

RELATED EPISODES

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected