Gymcastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

2012 Women’s Olympic Team Final Rewind

This week Angelina Melnikova is set to make her return to the international elite scene after four years; Australian gymnastics prison release program is alive and well; plus upcoming meet information and plenty of dumpster fire news. GymCastic LIVE SHOW Featuring: World AA Champion, Morgan Hurd.  Watch teaser here and get replay tickets here HEADLINES Angelina Melnikova, Tokyo Olympic Champion and 2021 World All-Around Champion, is making her international return at the Paris World Cup after four years Sean Gardner, a coach formerly at Chow's Gymnastics, has been arrested on charges of possession of child pornography. Chow's Letter; whistleblower profile Australian Gymnastics Jail is back: the Australian program is not using all of its allotted spots for the mens or womens teams at Worlds Rebeca Andrade will miss 2025 Worlds to take a physical and mental rest GYMTERNET NEWS The "30 miles is NOT neutral" proposal: college coaches vs. Utah gymnastics History note: a follow-up from Behind the Scenes, t

Travel stories from New Orleans, things you didn't see on the stream and which national champions have never won an event title. Check out a little video teaser of what happened at the Morgan Hurd Live Show. REPLAY tickets here This is our weekly live Q&A podcast. We start every week at noon Pacific/ 8 GMT. Club Members login to reveal the full bonus podcast. Here's how to ask questions live. Can't make it live? Add BTS to your favorite podcast player (instructions here). Not a member? Join here. We have a weekly Behind The Scenes live Q&A podcast and post-meet live exclusives all year long. It's all part of the bonus content for our Club Members who supporting our work year around.  RELATED: Photo Galleries from 2025 U.S. Championships 2025 U.S. Championships Recap Day One Women’s U.S. Championships 2025 Podium Training Report: 2025 U.S. Championships 2025 U.S. Championships Preview Episode BONUS CONTENT  Club members can watch Vanessa Atler's live show by logging in to her live show page, it

The most impressive gymnastics, stories, highlights and controversies of the 2025 U.S. Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships. GymCastic LIVE featuring: MORGAN HURD get your replay tickets here Women's Highlights from USA Championships Hezly Rivera is your new 2025 USA national all-around champion! Who are our event champions? Vault: Wong with highest score in the world Bars: Rivera and Blakely Beam: Rivera Floor: Rivera Our favorite moments from the meet: Leanne Wong said "you're not leaving me off the Worlds team," and pulled a stuck Cheng for night two Joscelyn Roberson whipped out a massive 6.5 D-score floor routine with a full-twisting double layout for her third pass! Men's Highlights from USA Championships Question: Was this the right Worlds team pick? What about Frederick Richard? We debate How Patty Hoops 15.7'd himself a plane ticket to Jakarta We need to talk about Jackson Harrison's growth in the past year Fan favorites Charlie Larson and Jackson Harrison talk about the new m

2025 U.S. Championships Day Two! This is our live coverage from New Orleans. We'll start about an hour after the meet ends. Login to reveal the extended episode. Here's how to ask questions live. Can't make it live? Add BTS to your favorite podcast player (instructions here). GymCastic LIVE featuring MORGAN HURD: REPLAY tickets here Women’s Senior Day 2 All‑Around Results Rank No. Athlete Gym Prelim Final Combined 1 219 Hezly Rivera WOGA 55.600 56.400 112.000 2 217 Leanne Wong U of Florida 55.100 56.100 111.200 3 215 Joscelyn Roberson U of Arkansas 55.400 54.200 109.600 4 207 Ashlee Sullivan Metroplex 53.700 54.250 107.950 5 210 Simone Rose Pacific Reign 53.450 54.450 107.900 6 209 Jayla Hang Pacific Reign 52.250 55.400 107.650 7 214 Gabrielle Hardie Twin City Twisters 53.750 53.100 106.850 8 220 Dulcy Caylor World Champions 53.800 52.900 106.700 9 224 Tiana Sumanasekera World Champions 53.100 52.850 105.950 10 218 Claire Pease WOGA 51.600 53.950 105.550 11

2025 U.S. Championships Day One WAG! This is our live coverage from New Orleans. We'll start about an hour after the meet  ends. Login to reveal the extended meet report. Here's how to ask questions live. Can't make it live? Add BTS to your favorite podcast player (instructions here). GymCastic LIVE featuring MORGAN HURD: Tickets on sale now SENIOR RESULTS OF DAY ONE Rivera - 55.600 and beam with 14.350. Roberson - 55.400, leading FX with 14.150  and tied for first on UB with Zhou for 13.650.  Wong - 55.100 and leading VT with 13.675 Not a member? Join here.We have a weekly Behind The Scenes live Q&A podcast and post-meet live exclusives all year long. It's all part of the bonus content for our Club Members who supporting our work year around.  CHECK OUT FACT CHECKER'S NEW BOOK WITH AIMEE BOORMAN The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles by Aimee Boorman with Fact Checker is topping the sport charts - SUCK IT SPORTS BALLS! Get your copy now. And if you loved reading (or listening) to the book, please

2025 U.S. Championships Podium Training! This is our live coverage from New Orleans. We'll start about an hour after the podium training ends. Login to reveal the full show. Here's how to ask questions live. Can't make it live? Add BTS to your favorite podcast player (instructions here). GymCastic LIVE featuring MORGAN HURD: Tickets on sale now BONUS CONTENT  Club members can watch Vanessa Atler's live show by logging in to her live show page, it will appear below. Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes. Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded, participate in watch-alongs with Spencer, access to all of our exclusive extended interviews, Behind The Scenes and College & Cocktails. Not sure about joining the club?  College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here. MERCH GymCastic Store: clothing and gifts to le

Who's in the running to be the brand new AA Champion, who makes World Team Camp and most importantly, skills, upgrades and art to watch! MORGAN HURD LIVE SHOW SATURDAY! Get Tickets U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS: PODCAST SCHEDULE  *Times are estimates depending on duration of post-meet athlete interviews Aug 6 - Senior Women Podium Training - Live Podcast 8:30pm Central* Aug 8 - Women Day 1 - Live Podcast 10:00pm Central* Aug 9 -  LIVE SHOW WITH MORGAN HURD Doors open 2:00, show 2:30 Aug 10 - Women Day 2- Live Podcast 9:00pm Central* Aug 12 - U.S. Men's & Women's Championships recap podcast  1:40 GYMTERNET NEWS Someone stole Suni's statue! Simone Biles: I chose boundaries over burnout - and made Olympic history Suni Lee "I"m Finally understanding how good I am" Update on Loreno Bonicelli's catastrophic injury at University Games. The only black boys gymnastics team in the country needs your help. Russian Olympic and World Champion Melnikova leaves election to focus on gymnastics. Lakeland Florida sheriff asking oth

Welcome to Behind The Scenes Bonus! This is our weekly Q&A episode for Club Members who support our work all year long. We also have live exclusives after competitions like this week's US Championships.  Login to reveal the full show Here's how to ask questions live. Can't make it live? Add BTS to your favorite podcast player (instructions here). GymCastic LIVE featuring Morgan Hurd  Tickets on sale now Not a member? Join here. Behind The Scenes is a weekly Q&A live podcast and post-meet live exclusive. It's all part of the bonus content for our Club Members who supporting our work year around. Topics: • Morgan Hurd's is our special guest for the live show at the U.S. Championships in New Orleans (will coincide with her USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame induction), and all the stories she can't say in  her induction speech.  • We need a tag line for live shows Schedule for the U.S. Championships: episodes after women's podium training, women's day one, and women's day two, with the live show featuring Morg

It's the interview you've been waiting for! This week we welcome Katya Zamolodchikova to the show. We discuss Katya's gymnastics origin story, ponder the legacy of Svetlana Khorkina's existence as a human being, thoughts on elite vs. NCAA gymnastics, and whether Nellie Kim or Nadia Comaneci would win in a bar fight. GYMCASTIC LIVE with MORGAN HURD Satuday, August 9th. Keep checking link for tickets. Get Tickets KATYA ZAMOLODCHIKOVA INTERVIEW Login for bonus content here Ladies and gentlemen, girls, gays, and theys, it's the episode you've all been waiting for; this week we welcome drag queen, actor, host of one of the funniest YouTube channels on the internet, and certified Gym Nerd, Katya Zamolodchikova to the show! In this episode we discuss everyyttthinggg you have ever wanted to know about Katya's gymnastics background including: Why Katya got into gymnastics Who is in Katya's gymnastics "trifecta of fucking doom" Svetlana Khorkina, Svetlana Khorkina, and Svetlana Khorkina. Did we mention Svetlana Khork

Claire Pease is our 2025 U.S. Classic Champion! What are our biggest takeaways from this meet, favorite moments and what USAG said about the judging error. If you missed our immediate recap live from Chicago on Saturday night, listen here.  GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO: REPLAY Tickets on sale now HEADLINES Claire Pease is our U.S. Classic all-around and vault champion! Myli Lew took the bars title, but first, a judging controversy In a GymCastic exclusive: USAG issued a statement to us about the bars error How can we fix these types of errors in the future? Ashlee Sullivan and her Arabian took the beam title Reese Esponda qualified herself to Championships ANNDDD took the floor title while she was at it Classic Important updates heading into Championships Skye Blakely submitted a successful petition to compete at U.S. Championships Tiana is coming back from her Pan Ams ankle injury and is resting for Championships Members of the 2024 Olympic team and alternates are eligible to petition to U.S. Championshi

Live report from the 2025 U.S. Classic where Claire Pease is the new all around and vault champion. Myli Lew won UB with a big 14.05, Ashlee Sullivan won BB and Reese Esponda FX. Welcome to Behind The Scenes! This is our exclusive live from Chicago after 2025 U.S Classic. We have a weekly Q&A episode and live exclusives after competitions all year long. We estimate live (right here, on this page) around 10pm Central. Login to reveal full club version of the show. Here's how to ask questions live. Can't make it live? Add BTS to your favorite podcast player (instructions here). GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO: REPLAY Tickets on sale now Get Tickets Not a member? Join here.The Scenes is a weekly Q&A live podcast and post-meet live exclusive. It's all part of the bonus content for our Club Members who supporting our work year around.   CHECK OUT FACT CHECKER'S NEW BOOK WITH AIMEE BOORMAN The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles by Aimee Boorman with Fact Checker is topping the sport charts - SUCK IT SPO

Olympic Champion, Kaylia Nemour speaks up about her gym change; Parkettes coach banned and we preview this week's US Classic. GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO this Friday: Tickets HERE Get Tickets before they sell out HEADLINES What does the LA28 schedule tell us about the Mixed Team event? The schedule for LA 2028: Artistic Gymnastics  July 15-20 and 22-25, Trampoline  July 21, Rhythmic Gymnastics from July 27-29 The FIG revised its rules regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes. Will this make it easier for them to compete in international competition? Kaylia Nemour opens up about her decision to leave Avoine-Beaumont Just a reminder, her coach was fired from his national coaching role because of his abusive training methods and later exonerated via investigation. Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos posted on Instagram that she had surgery Two coaches at Parkettes, John Holman and Robin Netwall, have been suspended by SafeSport for alleged misconduct. Parkette elite Amber Trani spoke up about h

Nemour hasn't moved to World Champions Center, Mary Lou Retton's arrest footage was released, code changes to get you up to speed for elite season, and a mini commission on the best gymnasts the world has never known GymCastic LIVE JULY 18th: Tickets on sale now Get Tickets HEADLINES Nemour was training at World Championships Center aka Simone's gym last week with her French coach Footage from Mary Lou Retton's DUI arrest was released ELITE SEASON IS WARMING UP: What updates to the 2025-2028 Code of Points should I know about? Overall, there weren't too many changes to this quad's edition of the Code of Points. Was that intentional? Our favorite and not-so-favorite parts about this new Code, and why we need to spend the entire episode talking about the face sketches of the gymnasts doing wolf turns in the table of elements Why Jessica thinks the beam code is perfect and Spencer doesn't The big floor shakeup that is killing all of our double-arabian half-out dreams How we can tell Sugihara Aiko did her hom

How a tumbler went from T&T World Championships to artistic national champion in just a few tumultuous years.  GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO: Tickets on sale now Get Tickets INTERVIEW Four-time Trampoline and Tumbling National Team Member, 2025 NCAA National Champion, and master of a cheeky mid-floor routine side-eye, Charlie Larson joins us on the show. Larson began his career in trampoline and tumbling, earning a spot on the U.S. National Team four-times and competing as part of the United States' 2021 World Championship team, which placed fourth. He started his collegiate career a well known university and then switched to University of Minnesota then transferred to Michigan for the 2024-2025 season, where his floor routine helped Michigan clinch its first National title in over a decade. He talks about his famous triple double, being at The infamous Karolyi Ranch for T&T training camp and his belovedPower Puff Girls videos. BONUS PODCASTS  Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to

The history of the Brazilian gymnastics program, from its humble beginnings in the 1970s to Olympic glory in 2024 This week's episode is a commission from our Olympic Fantasy Gymnastics winner, Liam, who wants us to discuss the history of Brazilian gymnastics. From trailblazers like Daiane dos Santos and Daniele Hypolito who put Brazilian gymnastics on the map, to the current stars, Flavia Saraiva and Rebeca Andrade. GymCastic LIVE in CHICAGO: Tickets on sale now Get Tickets Setting the Scene How the Brazilian teams of recent years embody the energy of badass, confident adult women who do gymnastics as a team sport Why we think Marta Karolyi would probably hate the 2024 Brazilian Olympic team (in the most complimentary way possible) The early days of Brazilian Gymnastics When did Brazil send its first team to Worlds? Why we need a Brazilian gymnastics shrine dedicated to Claudia Costa How did the program start gaining momentum during the 1980s? The tumultuous 1990s: from finishing dead last at 1991 Worlds

All the news from Hang's domination at the Pan American Championships, Sugihara podiuming all over the place at Asian Championships.  TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR LIVE SHOW CHICAGO  Friday, July 18th at the world famous iO Theater. Attend virtually or in-person for games, prizes and a secret guest Q&A.  HEADLINES Can we please prioritize athlete safety? There were A LOT of issues with the mens' equipment at the Pan American Championships, but luckily everyone survived Jayla Hang (USA) and Felix Dolci (Canada) won the all-around titles The USA's mens and women teams won the Pan American team titles Chuso got injured in the vault final at Asian Championships, but the Olympic Channel is reporting she will still compete in Tashkent on her 50th birthday GYMTERNET NEWS MyKayla Skinner supports Riley Gaines and says Simone Biles "belittled, dismissed, and ostracized" her behind the scenes Are we taking the bait by discussing this at all? Mailie O'Keefe receives the Operations Specialist Award and will be stayin

Simone Biles used her Twitter sword of good once again, USAG explained their trans policy disappearance and schools can now directly pay athletes.  HEADLINES Simone went OFF on social media over Riley Gaines' anti-trans statements GymCastic exclusive -- We reached out about the removal of the trans inclusion policy from the USAG website. USAG's statement below: "USA Gymnastics seeks to uphold inclusive sport practices while adhering to various local, state, and federal laws, as well as international regulations established by the IOC and FIG. In May, USAG removed its policy to assess compliance with the current legal landscape." Jordyn Wieber and Chris Brooks had their baby! The NCAA House Settlement is final, and schools will now be able to directly pay athletes Which gymnasts are on the NIL backpay list? Could this be the end of Olympic and non-revenue sports? What are the Title IX implications? GYMTERNET NEWS Li Li Leung announced she will be stepping down as CEO of USA Gymnastics at the end of 2

The first EVER mixed-team event happened at the European Championships, Manila Esposito is once again the queen of Europe, and all the gymternet news Support independent journalists by joining here. Photo Credits: Filippo Tomasi for © GymCastic; Mahti Olfati's vault @Milad_Milka HEADLINES Mahdi Olfati showed a Yurchenko full-in at Asian Championships podium training and our jaw is still on the floor Mary Lou Retton was arrested for a DUI in West Virginia The biggest stories at the European Championships Manila Esposito is the European All-Around Champion AGAIN! This is Ana Barbosu's world, and we're all just living in it We need to talk about the Mixed Pairs competition because strategy The domination of grown-ass women International world peace news starring Missouri Gymnastics EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS A rundown of who the Champions of Europe are in our heart and on paper What were the coolest skills we saw at these Championships? Our favorite opportunities for comedy Why Ruby Evans and Jake Jarman are

Support our independent journalism by joining here. The greatest rivalries of the 1980s! This week, we have a commissioned episode from Club Gym Nerd member Kimo, who asked for an episode all about the 1980s rivalries between the Romanians and the Soviets, both team and individually. We are oh so happy to oblige! Setting the scene A history of Soviet dominance Romania’s 1976 emergence The 1977 Europeans Romanian WALKOUT! The first great Romanian/Soviet rivalry—Nadia vs. Nellie and how it may or may not have influenced the future of gymnastics Romania wins in 1979, where Nadia saves the day with one hand. The Rivalry The 1980 Olympics of crazy judging Nadia vs. Davydova and the case of the 30-minute delay Nadia vs. Nellie and the case of the “computer malfunction” Mukhina’s paralysis and the race for innovative difficulty 1981 Worlds The silliest scores of 1981 (oh, it’s 9.800 for this) The case of the Szabo/Agache impersonation of 1981 Romania ends up 4th. That’s right 4th. 1983 Worlds Innovation fr