GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

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**GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast**

GymCastic Podcast is a weekly gymnastics talk show. The hosts interview people who love gymnastics almost as much as we do, discuss the latest news, events and offensive leotard fashion.

Latest Episodes:

334: Doha Worlds Men's Team Final Day Five Oct 30, 2018

Show notes

DOHA: MEN'S TEAM FINAL

Kensley, Jessica, and Spencer talk about this super exciting disaster of a men's team final!

China vs. Russia – China wins by 0.050!
- How it all went down, shock by shock, rotation by rotation
- Was the result fair?
- How do we feel about this new alternating-routines format?
- Plus, good-luck hickies and nose-hair close-ups
Japan and the US and the fight for bronze
- Kohei comes through! Duh.
- But even Japan was not immune to the splat-monster
- How should the US feel about this 4th place finish?
- Terry, Tim, and Nastia were NOT having the world feed (then maybe NBC should open its WALLET instead of whining about it!!!!!!)

RAGE

THE FIG HAS MADE A RULE BANNING CELINE VAN GERNER'S CAT MAKEUP AND WE ARE NOT HAVING IT RAGGGGGEEEEEEEEE

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333: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Four Oct 28, 2018

Show notes

DOHA WORLDS: DAY THREE WOMEN'S PRELIMS

Spencer, and Jessica chat about the results of the final day of women's prelims at the 2018 Doha Artistic Gymnastics World Championships:

The team final is set. We discuss: US, Russia rough vault, will they bring in the alternate? China lots of room for improvement but TingTing and Zhang made beam finals. Canada were all Ellie Black and fantastic. Brazil won the leo competition and hit like beasts. Japan still hanging in for finals. France and Melanie de Jesus Dos Santos. Germany and their killer bars.
Which event final is going to be the most competitive. Hint IT'S BARS.
Why new Romania is Jessica's new favorite Romanian team ever.
Brooklyn Moors is in floor finals so the completion is legitimate.
The latest from behind the scenes and things women can get arrested for in Qatar.

FURTHER READING

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Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy one of our awesome merch here.

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332: Doha Worlds WAG Prelims Day Three Oct 27, 2018

Show notes

DOHA WORLDS: DAY THREE WOMEN'S PRELIMS

Spencer, and Jessica chat about the results of women's prelims at the 2018 Doha Artistic Gymnastics World Championships:

Simone's kidney stone (which she has nicknamed, "The Pearl of Doha") couldn't stop her leading by almost five points and making the Biles Vault official.
We rave about Morgan Hurd peaking at exactly the right time to make AA finals. Kara Eaker's glorious beam, Riley McCusker's bars, Grace McCallum being money, and Ragan Smith being able to be part of the team on the floor.
Nina Derwael (BEL) winning bars so far and probably making floor finals!
Grown Ass Women news: Chuso, Germany, Netherlands and Japan. Plus Marta Pihan-Kulesza (POL) bringing her baby Pink Panther, Jagna into the mixed zone and Jurkowska-Kowalska (POL), 26 making the laid-out gainer DOUBLE full beam dismount officially called the Jurkowska-Kowalska!
Storms, falcons and the positive side of Doha hosting a world championships.

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331: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day Two Oct 26, 2018

Show notes

DOHA WORLDS MEN'S PRELIMS DAY TWO

Spencer, Jessica and Kensley chat about:

THE POMMEL-POCALYPSE claimed many lives, almost every favorite is out.
ALKASS.NET is streaming non-geoblocked but mostly video of people in the stands
China was amazing.
Sam Mikulak is in four event finals plus the AA final. First American man to do that since 1979!
Team qualifications: Russia, China, Japan, US, Great Britain, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland
Non-PH event finals are promising.
Simone has kidney stones.

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330: Doha Worlds MAG Prelims Day One Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

DOHA WORLDS MEN'S PRELIMS DAY ONE

Spencer, Jessica and Kensley chat about:

The Russia show
Heartbreak of Igor on vault, Belyavskiy missing all-around and Manrique Larduet not even trying for AA.
Netherlands kicking ass, especially on HB even though Epke didn't do his full difficulty .
New star Yulo Carlos Edriel from Philippines.
Vault E scores are still wrong.
Updates from the pool to women's start lists.

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329: Steve Penny Arrested & Doha Worlds Preview Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

THE NEWS

Steve Penny got arrested
- Indicted on felony charges of tampering with evidence
- Oh. That's too bad.
- What are these alleged documents allegedly that he allegedly tried to remove from the ranch allegedly?
- Some things about this arrest...don't add up. What's really going on?
- Steve Penny has now been banned by USAG. LOLOLOLOLOLOL.
The FBI emails
- We discuss the totally inappropriate-seeming emails exchanged between Steve Penny and an FBI agent
- Why everything about this is SOOOO Steve Penny
Tasha Schwikert comes forward
- "Steve had always manipulated all of us really...he and USA Gymnastics made me feel like if it wasn't for them..."
- The clearest example of the semi-ambiguous "toxic culture at USAG that silences athletes"
- How this clarifies the infamous USAG 60 Minutes tweet

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

How to watch
- In the US, select qualification sessions will be streamed on NBC sports. Finals will be on the Olympic Channel and streamed on the Olympic Channel website. Women's AA and event finals will be tape delayed on NBCSN.
- Men's qualification - Thursday and Friday
- Women's qualification - Saturday and Sunday
- Men's and women's team finals - Monday and Tuesday
- Men's and women's AA finals - Wednesday and Thursday
- Event finals - Friday and Saturday
The latest from Doha
- Everyone drowned in a flood on the first day
- Inevitably equipment controversy. The floor is...hard. The pommel horse is...wrong?
- The latest news from Sexism Land (it's not that bad this time!)
- The US women watched the men's podium training (WHAT?)
PREVIEW TIME
- Can anyone break through the US/Russia/China trio?
- Are the Japanese men in trouble in the team competition?
- Jessica previews the over-30s rocking the competition
- What non-Simones might win AA medals?
- KOHEI IS OUT OF THE ALL-AROUND
- What are Sam Mikulak's medal chances really?
- Which event final fields are good, which are bad, and who you need to look out for

FURTHER READING

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Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. Doha merch now available! It's not too late!

328: The US Worlds Team & CEO Dumpster Fire Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

IN THE NEWS

BREAKING TUESDAY UPDATE: Mary Bono has resigned. We perform a dramatic reading of her resignation letter. Now, to the show.
USAG appoints Mary Bono as its interim CEO, and Jessica and Spencer have no opinions about that. Oh wait, the opposite.
- The Nike tweet and why that (and her fake apology) is so, so bad
- She worked for the damn USAG law firm
- Meanwhile, Simone is being a CHAMPION
- Has USAG learned NOTHING? (Spoiler: yes)
- On what planet was a politician the right person right now?

ACTUAL GYMNASTICS

The US women's worlds team has been named! And it makes sense!
- SIMONE DEBUTED A NEW VAULT YOU GUYS
  - But seriously. This vault.
  - I mean...come on.
  - Just...
- Streaming the selection competition — good for everyone!
- Kara Eaker's beam score - how realistic is this?
- BUT WHO IS THE ALTERNATE? WHAT SHOULD THE TEAM FINAL LINEUPS BE? WHO DOES BEAM IN QUALIFICATION? We discuss.
A taste of next week's worlds preview as we discuss medal prospects for the US women's team

GYMTERNET NEWS

Tom Forster did a Twitter Q&A that exceeded expectations and provided some actual information!
- What is the Ted Stevens Act, how is it influencing US Olympic qualification decisions, and does that even make sense?
USAG released the Jade Carey Rules about individual Olympic qualification. We break them down, with comments.

MEET ROUNDUP

Youth Olympic Games — Italy has an all-around champion, Simone Biles wins meets she doesn't even enter now, and we dork out about the future for Ireland and Finland
Romanian nationals — Denisa Golgota withdrew, sending the gymnastics world into a state of panic, but things look good for the 2020 seniors

FURTHER READING

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Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. The DOHA GEAR is ready for you! Boycotting and watching from home? We have that covered. Posters? That too!

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327: 1993 NCAA Nationals (Commissioned) Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

This episode has been commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Kerry, who requested an episode all about the 1993 NCAA Nationals, saying "This was the first NCAAs I ever watched as a kid growing up in Georgia, so this obviously got me hooked!"

Setting the scene - what was college gymnastics like in the ancient year of 1993?
- A new format called "Super Six" was taking the college gymnastics world by storm
- Bonkers scoring and unrealistic 10s dominated the conversation (we wouldn't know anything about that)
The competition - watch along with us HERE. Press play when Jessica tells you
- The Great Marsden Billboard Incident of '93
- We get distracted by the extremely 1993 fashions for a while
- Jessica is not having these pirouettes
- But seriously the fashion, you guys
- Agina Simpkins is the best thing ever to happen
- I MEAN THESE CLOTHES
- Dee Foster's vault still holds up today
- Greg Marsden hates the format (Shocked, I tell you!)
- LONG LIVE GYM ACRO SERIES
- Hope Spivey-Sheely puts everyone else's difficulty to shame
- The legend that is Jenny Hansen
- Questions about the Georgia All-American murals
- Stanning Dana Duckworth
- Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia
Post-competition discussion
- Whose personal style best encapsulated the year 1993?
- What could the 2019 NCAA code learn from the 1993 code?
- What did we see in 1993 that you are SO GLAD is gone?

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. We have DOHA GEAR.

RELATED EPISODES

326: The Great Individual vs. Team Debate Oct 10, 2018

Show notes

THIS WEEK

We have TWO episodes this week, so be sure to catch our 1993 NCAA Nationals commission as well on Thursday!
Updates on some of the other difference makers we could have talked about last week but didn't. Like idiots. Plus, many more American collegiate medalists.
More on the Jade Carey situation
- Jessica thinks it's AWESOME, Spencer thinks it's strategically unsound, and they both think USAG botched it (but whaaaaa?)
The great INDIVIDUAL vs. TEAM debate, years in the making
- In the individual corner, Jessica O'Beirne, who gives two giant steaming turds about team medals
- In the team corner, Spencer Barnes, who finds a way to make this about math homework somehow
We create some much better rules for how the US should be handling individual Olympic spots
The Youth Olympic Games have started! We need to talk about the "mixed multi-discipline team event"
Jessica tells us about Shawn Johnson's interesting appearance on Freakonomics

FURTHER READING

The Jade Carey Problem Strong Opinions About Every Single Nation's Worlds Team

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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

RELATED EPISODES

325: Olympics of Difference Makers (Commissioned) Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

This week, we have a special episode commissioned by InterGalactic Champion level Club Gym Nerd member Matt who, inspired by Queen Alexandra Raisman, requested an episode about athletes who were bold enough to make a difference in the quality of life for others. He said, "Thus, for my commissioned episode, I would like for you to name your All-Olympic team of difference makers. Honorees must be Olympic gymnasts from any country or era who made a positive impact." Let's do this! Here are the athletes we're naming to our Olympic team of difference makers.

Team Captain Vera Caslavska, who bowed her head in the 1968 medal ceremony to protest Soviet incursion in Czechoslovakia
Hong Un Jong and Lee Eun Ju—The North/South Korea selfie heard 'round the world
- The Kuwaiti gymnast who came to worlds in 1991 just after documenting the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
- Sub-discussion - the Japanese leotard in 2012
- Farah Ann Abdul Hadi and daring to (GASP) wear a leotard
Agnes Keleti, who survived WWII by posing as a Christian maid to return to gymnastics and become the most decorated Jewish Olympian (to that point)
Emilia Eberle, Jennifer Sey, Marcia Frederick, Dominique Moceanu, the 2011 Dutch team, and all others who have spoken out against abusive coaching
1996 Canadian Olympian Kris Burley, who came out after retiring in 1999 and later joined the COC's program to combat homophobia in sports
Jeffrey Wammes, who came out in an interview with Linda Magazine in 2011, and continued competing until 2016
Alexis Brown of UC Davis, who kneeled during the national anthem during the 2017 season
Mirabella Akhunu, who changed what you thought of when you thought Ukrainian
1968 beam champion Natalya Kuchinskaya, who said obvious things about coaching the person rather than the gymnast before people were ready to hear it
Firsts from Dianne Durham and Wendy Hilliard
All those responsible for the introduction of the vaulting table
Olympians who spoke up during a major competition about safety: Allana Slater and Bart Deurloo

FURTHER READING

Chalking Up: My Life in Elite Gymnastics, by Jennifer Sey Nike is a Goddess: A History of Women in Sports, by Lucy Danziger (Agnes Keleti's story)

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here.
Buy our awesome clothing and gifts here. Worlds designs are available now!

RELATED EPISODES

CONTEST

What: 5 winners get a copy of Miss Val's book: Life is Short, Don't Wait to Dance Grand Prize: Book and 15 minute personal phone call with Miss Val. How to Enter: Using the #DontWaitToDance on Twitter or Instagram tag us @GymCastic with a 5 second video doing your favorite UCLA floor choreography. Doesn't have to be you, use your dog, fingers, make a friend do it. Bonus entries: Link to the book. Enter as many times as you want. When: Now to October 5th, 2018 *Conflict of Interest Disclaimer: Jessica's husband co-authored this book.

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