GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

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256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned) Jun 21, 2017

Show notes

This week, it's Part 2 of our very, very, extra special commission series about the 1996 Olympics, this time brought to you by Club Gym Nerd member Kris. Brave Kris channeled Lilia Podkopayeva and rose to Mount Olympus as a true and eternal hero by asking us to talk about the explosion of world champions that was the 1996 WOMEN'S ALL-AROUND FINAL! Thank you so much for supporting the show, Kris! Jessica and Spencer discuss:

Withdrawals!
- Kerri's foot and its many, varied costumes throughout the all-around final
- Marinescu being replaced by Amanar because Marinescu "didn't work hard enough." HRRRRMMMM (4:16)
- Romania's admitted age falsification, featuring conspiracy theories about why those medals have never been stripped but China's have (8:16)
How we got here: an ode to compulsories
- Lilia's compulsory floor is what dreams are made of
- Why Shannon's compulsory beam is a CLINIC on what beam is supposed to be
- Compulsory bars scoring was crazy-town
Rotation 1 (13:20)
- Intro fluff about what a failure it is to get silver or bronze
- Khorkina's no-look salute and perfect "Phantom of the Opera" beam soundtrack
- Was Gogean really "predictable" and "not that exciting"?
- Spencer spends 715 minutes on the epic LITTLE ROZA GALIEVA fluff (31:52)
- The most overtly sexual floor routine in the history of gymnastics
Rotation 2
- Khorkina's brilliant Carmen floor routine, meerkat impression, and...month-long hospital trip???
- Pod tucks her legs on bars. Was her score fair?
- Shannon's bat toes, insane beam save, and why you have to pay close attention to her leo
- The Mo salto. The end
- Kochetkova's beam set is the best argument for D-scores
- Was NBC more positive back in 1996?
Rotation 3 (1:08:14)
- American hopes are dashed on the floor in a stream of tears
- "Stop crying. There's people everywhere." Why Steve Nunno's behavior was completely unacceptable
- So many camera flashes. Because safety and security didn't exist in 1996.
- Overtly patriotic leos: Yea or Nay?
- Theories about who picked Simona Amanar's floor music, which may or may not involve horcruxes
- Lily Pod makes her Soviet grandmother proud with her perfection
Rotation 4
- Why Podkopayeva always had the edge heading into the final rotation and didn't "take advantage of others' mistakes"
- Khorkina misses bars and begins an Olympic AA tradition
- How should the Romanians have actually ranked?
- Contradictory Mo Huilan fluffs
- Mo's floor heartbreak and potential chicken-dance penalty
The final result
- You could tie for medals! What a concept!
- Piskun kisses Pod on the nose because too adorable for words
- The most insulting interview in NBC's history
- Bela and Nunno try to out-Trump each other

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Join Club Gym Nerd here with brand new membership tiers, commission your own episode, or commission your own segment.
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GYMCASTIC LEOTARD CONTEST

WHAT: A GymCastic crystal logo leotard, custom made to fit by Rebecca's Moms Leotards HOW TO ENTER: Tell us who would you want to compete against in your custom-made GymCastic leo. Tag @GymCasitc and @RebeccasMomLeo on Twitter or Instagram DEADLINE: Sunday, June 25th. Random Winner announced last podcast in June on the 28th

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255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned) Jun 13, 2017

Show notes

This week, we have another very special commissioned episode for you to sink your ears into. Loyal Club Gym Nerd member Robin helped support the show by asking us to talk about everyone's favorite competition, the meet that launched a million gym nerds, and probably the most important moment in the entire history of sports, the 1996 OLYMPIC WOMEN'S TEAM FINAL! Thank you so much, Robin! Jessica and Spencer discuss:

Olympic Trials Drama! (6:24)
- Compulsive gym hopping
- Miller and Moceanu injury petitions
- All those heartbreaks (Kulikowski! Jennie Thompson! Kristy Powell!)
JUICY, JUICY 1996 FLUFF (15:59)
- "Little girls dancing for gold" (Jessica has some feelings)
- Romania apparently training inside Dracula's castle
- "Just Shannon" and Shannon's epic snapback
- Racist propaganda fluff about Mo Huilan
- Putting Dominique Moceanu on a seesaw for some reason
The competition (35:40)
- The important debate: who's better, John Tesh or Al Trautwig?
- How unbelievably super awesome the US team was on bars
- Romania's endless injury drama
- Karolyi legs and form nostalgia
- What we think every time we see the Moceanu parents
- Deep thoughts about Geza Pozar floor routines
- Why Svetlana Khorkina is better than all of us in every way
THE VAULT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD
- A second-by-second breakdown of the Kerri Strug vaults
- The Strug parents (clap clap clap, chop chop chop)
- What Bela said to Kerri after her vault
- Did she actually do it on one leg?
- Should Kerri have been allowed to vault again when the US would have won anyway? (1:40:49)
- Was Russia not able to hear the floor music? Did it matter?
- The worst, most unprofessional, unsafe scene you've ever seen
The GALA (1:47:54)
- The US group dance to the YMCA and the Macarena. It happened.
- The biggest cheer than anyone has ever received
- Sexy Alexei's pommel horse
- Khorkina's epic bars dismount
Fairytale endings! (1:52:33)
- Where are they now?

RELATED LINKS

Spencer's Meet Recap: 1996 TEAM FINAL: AND SHE DID IT ON TWO LEGS
Spanny Tampson: 73 Thoughts We All Had During 1996 Team Finals

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254: Vanessa Atler Jun 07, 2017

Show notes

THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW

Vanessa Atler is an American treasure and fans have loved her from the moment they first saw her elegant power. She's a multi-time national champion, multi-World Cup champion, Goodwill Games event champion. She would probably have made the 1996 Olympic team had she been age eligible. She was one of those gymnasts for whom nothing ever worked out the way it should have and fans hearts broke along with her through the 1996-2000 quad. We discuss:

Why she requested the interview with us
Her thoughts on age limits and specialists (13:10)
Elements she worked on but never competed (19:25)
Dealing with emotions and tears of frustration
The Comaneci-Salto & The Rybackis - (22:34)
- Why didn't she just take the Comaneci out of her routine and win all the things?
- Beth and Steve's differing opinions on bars
- What worked and didn't work with the Rybackis
- How being at Charter Oak effected her own coaching
- Did she seek counseling or therapy? (31:01)
Her early online presence… and her mom's (32:50)
- Epic fluff from 1997 on Vanessa's online diary
1999 Goodwill Games and Sang Lan's vault accident (34:43)
Why she left the Rybackis (39:00)
The real story behind the ankle injury (47:57)
Why she did not train with Bela Karolyi (50:47)
The letter Larry Nassar said USAG received about him that caused him to be banned from the Ranch (52:16)
Pre-2000 Olympics, moving to WOGA (1:00:01)
- What did and didn't work for her with Valeri
- How Valeri helped make her more confident on bars
- Weigh-ins (1:04:29)
2000 Olympic Trials
- When an agent gets into the mix: where the "you didn't make the team because you were fat" rumor came from (1:08:35)
- Bela told her he'd put her on the team
Did she try and compete after 2000?
What are her feelings toward gymnastics now?
Being on the realty show "Starting Over"
Outside influences: family members and agents
The decision to turn professional
Fibromyalgia after her motorcycle accident
Dealing with anxiety and food
Talking about her support for the defendants in the Larry Nassar case (1:36:00)
Worlds in China: Nassar asking who wanted a cortisone shot without parental consent and alone in room (1:39:36)
What she overheard during a coaches meeting through the walls of a hotel (1:44:11)
Would she want her son to participate in elite gymnastics?
What she does to keep gymnastics fun for her gymnasts
What are her upcoming plans… is another book in the works?
What are her thoughts on the Nassar situation and USAG today?
- How terrible the food was when she was at the Ranch for national team camp (2:00:11)
- The text message exchange asking for support for Nassar (2:02:04)
- Asking for help for her bulimia and being told to do what it takes (2:03:55)

GUEST LINKS

Witness her amazing beam skills.
Her floor at the height of her awesomeness.
Vanessa Atler blog and diary
Vanessa Atler Children's Book: Let the River Flow

SUPPORT THE SHOW

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253: Koper, Asian Champs, Osijek and Youcan is back May 24, 2017

Show notes

IN THE NEWS

In the news Spencer and Jessica chat about:

Koper World Challenge Cup in Slovenia (results)
- Larisa Iordache BB
- "Flavinha" (Flavia Saraiva) fell on a dance skill
  - Almost dies on floor, but she's fine
- Champaign for all the winners
- Canadian gymnast Ellie Black scores triple silver
- Meet the Whittenburg - A TRIPLE PIKE OFF RINGS
- Eddie Penev won floor... but his 9.65 E score for his stuck upright landing Shewmanar vault
Osijek World Cup in Croatia (results);
- Irish 17-year-old Rhys McClenaghan won pommel because you have to stay on the horse people!
- Obsessed with Kirill Prokopev FX - flares
- Shelgunova challenges Flavia's choreography fall
- Thais Fidelis Dos Santos won BB and floor and her back handspring arabian is HUGE!
Asian Championships
- It's one million degrees in Thailand and the training hall was outside. Despite FIG recommendation for a heat index equal to or less than 39
- Tingting won all the things
- South Korea/North Korea world peace picture
NHK Trophy
- Kenzo almost beat Kohei in the AA with his 15.900 (7.2 D) on FX
- Kohei's 40th straight victory in an AA meet

GYMTERNET NEWS

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

Technology & Gymnastics
- What we want to see mainstreamed in gymnastics to prevent injury and aid judging
- The My USAgym app
- The new concussion detection test that uses spit to identify brain injury in juveniles.
- Robo judging with 3D lasers
NCAA Happenings:
- Georgia hires Courtney Kupets and dun dun dunnnnnnn volunteer Suzanne Yoculan
- Mckenzie Wofford is undergoing surgery for her scoliosis
- Zoe Draghi's speech from women's gymnastics' annual banquet at Cal
- LSU gymnast Lexie Priessman won SEC title on torn knee cartilage, coach D-D Breaux says
Missouri Gymnastics Stolen Money and Team Policies
- Missouri Gymnastics posts abnormally high departure numbers
- Morgan Porter pleaded guilty to stealing over $700 from her teammate. The teammate was "released" from the team while Porter only missed one meet after her arrest.
Insane Skill News
- Miyachi Hidetaka double twisting laid out kovacs.
- Manrique casually does a one-armed giant out of your Kolman
- Eddie Penev attempted a front double layout half-out
- At age 38, Mohini Bhardwaj hits bhs layout stepout on high beam
Aliya Mustafina interview
USA Gymnastics won't buy famed Karolyi ranch after all. Hummm, wonder why?
Who's coaching your kids? Background checks not required in NC
USA Gymnastics Sexual Abuse Investigation:
- Deposition in sexual abuse case delayed to allow former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny to attend Indy 500 parties. Not a joke folks!
- Nassar May 12th Hearing:
  - John Geddert allegedly walked in on Larry abusing one of the victims and said, "That must have hurt"
  - Plaintiff Rachael Denhollander destroyed Nassar's defense team!
  - Nassar's defense is that children don't understand the difference between sexual assault and legitimate medical procedures performed without gloves, parental notification, consent or explanation. Seems legit.
  - Nassar hearing continues this Friday, May 26th.
    - News reports:
      - Details from preliminary hearing for Larry Nassar
      - Three alleged victims testify against Nassar in graphic, tense court hearing
      - Nassar attorneys quiz women on whether treatments helped
      - "My trust had been used against me as a weapon, and I never wanted to trust again" - Denhollander
      - Meet the 7 women and girls testifying against Larry Nassar on Friday
- Bill requiring Olympic sports organizations to report sex abuse allegations advances
  - Senator Diane Feinstein introduced her bill (S534), read the text of the bill here and her press release here.
  - Call your representative (find them here) to thank or tell them to pass this bill!
  - To support the victims use hashtag #GymJaneDoe
British Gymnastics continues to be amazing. Love to Move is a chair based activity program to fight dementia

FEEDBACK

The body shaming of McKayla Maroney
Pregnancy Doping - the science behind the myth explained!
Episode 252 Myths, Legends and Unexpected Moments Commissioned show feedback:
- David Henderson at the 2000 Pontiac International Team Championships. The pommel broke off in his hand and the shards on the pommel base ripped his pants.
- Rianna Mizzen (AUS) had to call animal control to remove this snake from her gym.
- Khorkina is the VBBF (VBBF pronounced phonetically = eponymous skill on every event)

THIS WEEK'S INTERVIEW

Jessica Steyers, former competitive gymnast, NBC Olympic gymnastics producer and who is now a NY licensed clinical social worker certified trauma psychotherapist. We discuss:

Red flags and warning signs
How to help if a victim comes to you
If USAG's response on social media hurt or helped victims
The line between grooming and healthy coach-athlete bond
How listeners can support victims
NBC's on-air interview with Nastia

Resources: The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) is dedicated to the prevention of child abuse. Serving the United States, its territories, and Canada, the hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with professional crisis counselors who, through interpreters, can provide assistance in over 170 languages. The hotline offers crisis intervention, information, literature, and referrals to thousands of emergency, social service, and support resources. All calls are confidential. Here is a list of all the Child Protective Services hotlines in the country. S topitnow.org has great information on spotting behavioral signs in adults

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252: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History May 17, 2017

Show notes

Welcome to another commissioned episode. Club Gym Nerd member, Alison, helped support the podcast by asking us to talk about the greatest myths, legends and unexpected moments in gymnastics history. Thank you so much Alison! Spencer, and Jessica chat about:

Greatest Myths:
- Menstruation, height, beam width, Raducan's gold medal, and pregnancy doping
Legends:
- Age stereotype-defining heroes in the Olympics and NCAA from Chusovitina to Daria Bijak
- Innovators from Mo Huilan, Hali Sheriff, to Elvira Teza
- The 1974 NCAA Championship streaker
- Champions from Khorkina, Shun Fujimoto, Gabby Douglas and Vera Caslavska
Unexpected Moments
- The vault height during the all-around final at the Sydney Olympics
- 2004 Olympics men's gymnastics multifaceted debacle
- Wildlife
- Age falsification. Why do only the Asian countries get punished?
- Lingerie gymnastics
- The judge who gave an impossible score
- Tie breakers, wooden legs, circus discrimination, and that one time when Alijaz Pegan broke the P-bars

SUPPORT THE SHOW

Join Club Gym Nerd here or commission your own episode.
Buy one of our awesome goodies here.

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251: Chinese and JO Nationals May 10, 2017

Show notes

IN THE NEWS

In the news, Spencer, and Jessica chat about:

Chinese National Championships 2017 (1:40)
- The floor fell apart
- Shang Chunsong got a 3 on bars with a scary fall/ invents clear-hip seat drop to back tuck for 0.8 CV
- Lo Huan gorgeous beam and bars
- Li Qi (pronounced Lee Chee *squeals*) 6.3 D score (WOAH!) beam with so many missed connections.
  - Adorable gallop to handstand
  - Her floor is ready for NCAA. So. Ah. Mazing.
- Chen Yile switch ring to catastrophe but is it the future of chinese bars
- Du Siyu silver on bars
- Lu Yufei doing a GORGEOUS Fabrichnova
- Zou Jingyuan stole the show and got really mad when he wasn't perfect on the 6.6. D p-bars routine.
Level 10, Junior Olympic National Championships (26:07)
- Watch every routines here.
- Kalyxta Gamiao (Hawaiian Island Twisters) toe-on counter Kim
- Aleah Finnegan (sister of Sarah) won age group AA/BB
- Leanne Wong - Basically just won the 2020 US Bars title
- Lexy Ramler (Minnesota, Kid Sport) toe-on full twisting shaposh to immediate pak; also highest BB score of competition (aerial + split ring)
- Ky George (Cal) will be the next NCAA floor star, highest FX score of meet
- Vault:
  - We explain the JO vault bonus.
  - Kai Rivers (LSU, won the Nastia) - DTY (automatic 80-point Geddert behavior deduction)
  - Haleigh Bryant - handspring pike ½ is Rachel Slocum good
  - Lexi Graber got a 10 for this 1.5

GYMTERNET NEWS

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include (41:59):

Nikita Nagornyy casually chucking a Tsuk double-double.
A gymnastics name pronunciation database!
Should Parkour be an Olympic sport and under the FIG?
All the college coaching news
The US men are actually going to University Games!
"The Damage I've Done" Kristen Maloney
Everyone should sing their heart out during their gymnastics dance class like these kids.
When you miss prom because you qualified for Nationals, your coaches take you out for dinner in your prom dresses
FEEDBACK:
- Gender outrage: How is gymnastics gender unequal when rhythmic is only for women!
- Military academy hazing
- How to include Nassar news without triggering
RAGE-0-METER
- Stop the glitter trampoline insanity! Wear goggles and a mask!

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250: Cluj European Championships May 03, 2017

Show notes

IN THE NEWS

In the news, Uncle Tim, Spencer, Lauren, and Jessica chat about:

European Championships (2:00):
- Results Finals Day One, Finals Day Two
- Broken heart moments
- Euros highlights and lowlights:
  - Devillard won the vault title with a Rudi + DTY
  - Dragulescu won the FX title in Cluj
  - Angelina Melnkiova (RUS) coming back from heartbreak to win floor.
  - Nina Derwael UB win 14.633 (6.1), first ever for Belgium!
  - Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) mindset perspective.
  - Braegger (14.933 / 6.8) slayed Cluj with this HB
  - Oleg won another PB gold!
  - Ponor winning beam gold at home.
  - Maria Paseka had a 9.95 in NCAA, stuck cold DTY
  - Eremina near face-plant on beam
- The Massive scoring error on Ponro's floor routine that took 30 minutes to correct (25:06)
- Our favorite skills, combos or single routines
  - Oleg not dying, even though he balked on his HB dismount
  - Artur Dalaloyan (RUS) TTY
  - Belyavskiy took PH gold when Berki incurred a 0.3 deduction for mounting late!
  - Evangelia Plyta bars - Maloney + Deltchev, Tkachev + Gienger
  - Ana Filipa Martins (PRT) return to competition
  - Best combo: Paseka vault + reaction lady ("State Bird of the Gymternet" is Euros vault gif lady)
  - Mr. 6-feet-tall Shatilov is back with a double front pike half out
  - Vendula Merkova's (CZE) Onodi to Y turn; kicking booty spin, on beam
- Shennanigans (43:50):
  - Bellu making his old athletes do abs in Cluj
  - How media etiquette differes from country to country
  - Crowd reactions and fans
  - Valentina Rodionenko is blaming the judges for the WAG AA results
Men's NCAA Championship (59:00)
- Oklahoma finishes perfect season with third straight national championship
- Why Anthony McCallum's back-to-back NCAA vault title is so impressive
- Air Force gymnast, Tim Wang, made history at NCAA Championships
- Hazing on the Air Force gymnastics team: Cadets, coach were punished after investigation

GYMTERNET NEWS

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

Head coach Danna Durante fired from University of Georgia (1:06:48)
- 3 gymnasts dismissed from Georgia's team
- Dismissal of gymnasts not the right solution, handled poorly by Georgia
Lacy Dagen, Ashley Hiller granted releases from Florida and Jazzy Foberg is going to Florida early
USA Gymnastics Sexual Abuse Investigation (1:17:24):
- Joe Catrambone arrested and jailed for alleged sexual and physical abuse at Atlantic Coast Gymnastics in New Jersey
  - US Elite gymnast, Margzetta Frazier and her family reported Joe Catrambone's verbal abuse in 2015.
  - Tina Frazer talked to us about why she thinks this situation could have been avoided.
- Nassar:
  - 3 more MSU Title IX inquires find Nassar violated policies
  - Appeals court won't toss lawsuit against USA Gymnastics
  - Nassar's abuse didn't stop with the USAGym team; it apparently has affected the Romanian National Team, too
  - Doctor at center of USA Gymnastics scandal left warning signs at Michigan State
  - Nassar's foundation appears to have violated state law since 2014
  - After Nassar: A community responds to a local face shrouded in national scandal
  - Newest accuser in Nassar case says she was sexually abused in 1992
  - Karmerin Moore Video explaining how Nassar asked to videotape her at age 13
  - Radio interview with Nassar supporter who had intravaginal adjustment
More Gymternet News (1:27:35):
- Mihai's thoughts on his first National Team Camp in Australia
- 16-year-old Russian elite gymnast claims coaching neglect resulted in hip replacement
- Thema Williams's multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation will proceed
- Ashleigh Gnat can casually do an Amanar
- Nadia controversy
- Gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci defends Ilie Nastase after shameful Fed Cup outburst
- Gymnastics great Nadia blasts 'offensive' Nastase
- We pitch Disney shows for Laurie Hernandez (spoiler alert, we all hate live action Disney kids TV shows)

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