Russia is Back

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, the first perfect 10 in gymnastics was in 1924
• Not done yet! Jade Carey was hired as the student assistant coach at Oregon State
• Never say never: Simone Biles spoke at a conference in Australia and when asked about her prospects for LA 2028 she said "never say never"
• John Carney, former coach at Cal, is now the assistant coach at Denver
• ICYMI U.S. Championships will be in Phoenix, Arizona next year and apparently nobody has any concerns about the heat?

Dumpster Fire News

• The trial of a man accused of killing Kara Welsh, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater gymnast, has been pushed back to June 2026
• Adam Richard Jacobs, a former gymnastics coach at USA Gymnastics World in Utah, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release for child exploitation crimes
• Kaya Kazuma (Japan) announced on Twitter that he ruptured his Achilles

Meet News

• Junior Pan Am Games
  • The United States won gold at Junior Pan Ams and Charleigh Bullock won the all-around title
  • Debate: is it ever acceptable to keep an injured athlete on a team?
• Rhythmic Worlds in Brazil
  • An awkward moment as the wrong national anthem was played for Germany's Darja Varfolomeev
  • Rin Keys (USA) becomes the first U.S. Rhythmic Gymnast to medal at the World Championships!
  • History maker! Anaïs Ossonon becomes the first-ever gymnast to represent the Ivory Coast at a Rhythmic World Championships
• World Games
  • Defying gravity: Tofig Aliyev of Azerbaijan competed the first ever triple-triple in competition!
  • Artistry check: artistic gymnastics needs to take notes from acro. Watch the British men's World Games acro performance

Mini-Commission: Are college gymnasts allowed to represent their universities in elite gymnastics settings?

Thank you to World Champion level Club Gym Nerd member Stacey Tovino (law professor at the University of Oklahoma!) Club Gym Nerd members help us pay our bills and in return get thank you goodies from us in return. See details at gymcastic.com under the "Join Club" tab.

• How do elite gymnasts choose to represent their club vs university?
• How can a university-employed coach coach at a non-college meet?

Elite Check-in: Who is the Best Gymnast in the World? 2025 Edition

• Anna Kalmykova leads the all-around leaderboard with a 57.365 in the all-around, but we have some questions
• Hezly Rivera's 56.400 on day two of U.S. Nationals is not far behind Kalmykova. Leanne Wong's 56.100 is also competitive
• Kaylia Nemour scored a 56.032 back in March. She has scored as high as 15.100 on bars and 14.650 on beam this year. If she can bring back her Yurchenko double-full, could she challenge for gold?
• While Manila Esposito may not have the highest all-around score this year, all four of her events pass the eye test

UPCOMING COMPETITIONS

• September 13-14: Paris World Cup
• September 26-28: Szombathely World Cup
• September 29-Oct 2: US Women’s Selection Camp

RELATED:

• Photo Galleries from 2025 U.S. Championships
• Day One Women’s U.S. Championships 2025
• Podium Training Report: 2025 U.S. Championships
• 2025 U.S. Championships Preview Episode

UP NEXT:

• Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast every Friday at noon Pacific/7 GMT

GET MORE PODCASTS:  

• • • 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 and extended interviews like this one with Katya Zamolodchikova
    • 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 let your gym nerd flag fly and even “tapestries” (banners, the perfect to display in an arena) to support your favorite gymnast!
  • Baseball hats available now in the GymCastic store

NEWSLETTERS

• Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters 

RESOURCES

• The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles

  by Aimee Boorman with Fact Checker. Aimee coached Simone from day one in gymnastics to three back to back World All Around titles, 14 world medals and an unprecedented 5 medals at the Rio Olympics. Get your copy now. And if you loved reading (or listening) to the book, please leave a review.
• Spencer's essential website The Balance Beam Situation 
  • GIFs of the Week and Meet schedule with links.
• Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim
• Kensley's men's gymnastics site Neutral Deductions

RESISTANCE  Submitted by our listeners.

• ACTION
  • Indivisible
    • Practical ideas about what you can actually do in this moment, check it out: indivisi.org/muskorus
  • 5Calls App will call your Congresspeople by issue with a script to guide you
    • • Make 2 to your Congressional rep (local and DC office). 2 each to your US Senators (local and state offices)
        • State your name and zip code or district
        • Be concise with your question or demand (i.e. What specific steps is Senator X taking to stop XYZ)
        • Wait for answer
        • Ask for action items -  tell them what you want them to do (i.e. draft articles of impeachment immediately, I want to see you holding a press conference in front of...etc.)
  • ResistBot
    • Turns your texts into faxes, postal mail, or emails to your representatives in minutes
  • ACLU Mobile Justice App
    • Allows you to record encounters with public officials while streaming to your closest contacts and your local ACLU; REPORT any abuse by authorities to the ACLU and its networks.
• LAWSUITS
  • Donate to organizations suing the administration for illegal actions
    • ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Northwest Immigration Law Project
• STAY INFORMED
  • Suggested podcasts:  Amicus, Daily Beans, Pod Save America, Strict Scrutiny
• Immigrant Rights
  • Know Your Rights Red Cards, We Have Rights Video, Your Rights on trains and buses video