GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

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344: Shushunova vs. Silivas 1988 (Commissioned) Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

The tie that wasn't a tie! This week's episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member RayRay, who requested an episode on "An Abundance of Shushunovas (TM Jessica) - The 1988 battle between Shushunova and Silvas." Thank you for letting us do this, RayRay! Psst: Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about the dumpster fire, so just a few words on that before we begin. We'll get into it in detail next week, but you can read the entire Ropes and Gray report here. WATCH: UK Coverage; US Coverage We discuss:

Who won the AA battle, event by event, routine by routine
Silivas's own thoughts about the hardest mats of all time
Perms and shorterall leos and mullets — the big 3
THERE IS AN OUTLINE OF A BUTT ON THIS SPRINGBOARD
Classic (i.e. horrifying) US fluff pieces
Floor whisperers: We interpret the floor choreography with 100% accuracy
The most 80s thing that has ever happened in history ever
The SHOVE of victory
Where are they now? Checking in with the main characters

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343: The Andrade Cup & the Dumpster Fire of Lies Dec 04, 2018

Show notes

THIS WEEK (1:30)

First, Scott Bregman of the Olympic Channel joins us to talk about his fantastic interviews with Simone Biles and John Orozco and handle Jessica's request for a naked interview with a bunch of Japanese men, or something

IN THE NEWS (19:50)

We discuss what we learned about THE DOCUMENTS from Scott Reid's report on the depositions in Aly's lawsuit against USAG and the USOC – it ain't good.
The FIG Congress approved creating a Gymnastics Ethics Foundation — is this anything?
The FIG has proposed changes in the way athletes qualify for worlds — we like!
The USAG board has a new chairwoman – is there a secret golf cabal we should know about?
Lou Anna Simon has been charged with lying to police – oh, that's too bad.
Alex Naddour has been removed from the suspended members list.

COTTBUS (56:50)

Jessica's thoughts on the crowd, swimming naked in Germany, Milad Karimi's crib, white boards, and genetically modified Ukrainians
Spencer jabbers endlessly about the Olympic qualification points rules, what this means for 2020 (not so much yet) and Jade Carey's strategy
The Rebeca Andrade Cup – THAT DTY YOU GUYS
The beam final was a mess, but Flavia got 2nd even with a fall because perfection
Jade Carey did...OK. She took 2nd on VT and 5th on FX with 3 OOBs
Marta Pihan-Kulesza has brought back her Pink Panther routine, and it was AH-MAH-ZING
Pros and Cons of how the Olympic rules have changed the apparatus world cup
- Pros: This is the most we've ever cared about an apparatus world cup
- Cons: Some of these finals were better than worlds: Cough, cough MIYACHI

UNCLE TIM ALERT (14:34)

Uncle Tim attended Cirque's show Volta and has an extra special review for us

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342: A Quitter's Try – The CNN Parkettes Documentary (Commissioned) Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Taylor, Princess of Sex 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

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341: The Call Is Coming from Inside the House Nov 14, 2018

Show notes

GYMTERNET NEWS

The latest on...bum-bum-bum...decertification
- Mary Bono was submitted by THE USOC
- Is decertification inevitable...or not?
THE DOCUMENTS
- We're being asked to believe some pretty ridiculous things right now...
- ...so we performed a play about what might maybe have happened
- Save your applause until the end
Rules Clarifications. At worlds, the FIG held a forum to clarify rules and it was eventful. We CODE NERD OUT about:
- The messy chalk crackdown
- "No face painting. This is sport, not theater"
- No choreography onto the floor
- No soccer flopping
- The swing ring police (YES!)
- The two-foot-layout police (YES!)
- The side jump police (YES!)
- The beam rhythm police (YES!)

THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW

The myth, the legend, actual real-life big-boy sports reporter Will Graves of the AP joins us to discuss his experience in Doha and the current state of US gymnastics, including

If he floated away in a flood
Crowd size, and whether worlds should ever go back to Qatar
His secret meeting with the country's #2 (and interest in the rainbow leotard)
How he approaches USAG differently than in, say, 2015
Whether Simone is the greatest thing ever to be, ever, in the history of time and the universe, ever ever ever
The current state of men's gymnastics in the US

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340: USAG and The Case of the Missing Documents Nov 09, 2018

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THIS WEEK'S

This week Jessica is joined by Scott Reid from the Orange County Register. We discuss:

Why All Olympia (AOGC) Mckayla Maroney and Mattie Larson's gym is closing.
Why the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) is moving to decertify USA Gymnastics (USAG) now.
Did USAG suddenly find the "missing" Ranch medical documents?
Whether or not the USOC is decertifying in order to force USAG into bankruptcy.
What effect a USAG bankruptcy will have on the evidence gathering in the lawsuits.
Will USAG really be decertified?
Here's a link to his most recent article, "All Olympia agrees to pay Nassar survivor Mattie Larson $1 million"

CONTEST

WHAT: Norbert's are giving away a 6' Long Sectional Beam. Model SB-402, $120 value and of course they pay shipping in the 48 continuous states.
HOW: Twitter tag us and use hastag norbertsbeamgiveaway and tell us your favorite beam skill or post a GIF of it.
DEADLINE: November 12th at noon Pacific

WATCH ALONG WITH US ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE

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339: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day Two Nov 03, 2018

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WOMEN'S BEAM, FLOOR and MEN'S PARALLEL BARS, VAULT AND HIGH BAR EVENT FINALS

Simone Biles won her back her gold crown on Floor. She also tied Khorkina's record for total World medals and broke Khorkina's all-around record by winning her fourth World all-around title.
Simone, Morgan Hurd and Mai gobbled up the floor medals like champs but we have some questions about Melanie de Jesus dos Santos floor score and obviously Brooklyn Moors should have won all the medals because she is ART!
Ri Se Gwang was allowed out of his secret training dungeon to grace us with his bionic ankles and crazy difficulty for the vault win.
As expected the man should be given 10's for execution on P-Bars won gold and Oleg Verniaev hung in for silver.
High bar was controversial with Epke winning with his huge D and improved form, but Kohei's better E earning silver. Sam Mikulak won his first EVER individual World medal with the highest execution of the final.

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338: Doha Worlds Event Finals Day One Nov 02, 2018

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WOMEN'S VAULT AND BARS, MEN'S POMMEL HORSE, RINGS AND FLOOR EVENT FINALS

Simone Biles breaks Scherbo's event medal record with her bazillianth vault gold.
Nina did it! She won the bar world championship gold! NINA DERWAEL!!! But do we agree with third and fourth place?
NBC things
The best stag jump on men's floor won gold and Kenzo was more excited for Yulo than himself.
Pommel horse tie-breaker between Max Whitlock and Xiao. Why can't there be ties!?
Eleftherios Petrounias (Greece) doesn't need no stinkin' shoulder tender to win rings! Duh!

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337: Doha Worlds Women's All Around Final Nov 02, 2018

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WOMEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL

Simone wins her 4th world championship AA title—but how do we feel about someone winning with two falls?
We break down the tight race for the remaining medals among Mai Murakami, Morgan Hurd, Nina Derwael, Angelina Melnikova, and Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos
Mai and Nina make ALL THE HISTORY
Plus, all the things that made Jessica well up with tears, scream at the world feed, hit Spencer in the leg, and sometimes all three

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336: Doha Worlds Mens AA Final Oct 31, 2018

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DOHA: WOMEN'S TEAM FINAL

Kensley, Jessica and Spencer talk about the 2018 men's all-around final! Sam Mikulak was third going in to the finals but high bar got him again. Why the all around tie-breaker of dropping the lowest score is the stupidest thing ever. Artur Dalaloyan's come back from team finals was so heartwarming. Xiao, Kenzo and Nagorny all the hearts and so did Nastia who hates the world feed and tie-breakers as much as we do. TELL 'EM Nastia!

Watch along with us on YouTube here

CONTEST

- WHAT: Norbert's are giving away a 6' Long Sectional Beam. Model SB-402, $120 value and of course they pay shipping in the 48 continuous states.
- HOW: Twitter tag us and use hastag #norbertsbeamgiveaway and tell us your favorite beam skill or post a GIF of it.
- DEADLINE: November 12th

FURTHER READING

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Thank you Tumbl Trak!
Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here.

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335: 2018 Doha Worlds Womens Team Final Oct 31, 2018

Show notes

DOHA: WOMEN'S TEAM FINAL

Jessica and Spencer talk about the women's team final! The US won by the largest margin of victor by a male or female team ever! Tom Forster actually told us the criteria for the lineups, asked for the gymnast's opinions and even told us the team goals which are completely reasonable! Russia and US rotation world peace. Historic finish for Canada. Don't worry Japan will be safe. The World feed might be ever worse than NBC with Trautwig. Our hearts broke for Brazil and China. How the French and German teams won our hearts. EVEN SPENCER'S!

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