GymCastic: The Gymnastics Podcast

Recorded in 2023 pre Antwerp World Championships AA final, where Simone finally beat Larisa Latynina's record. We update and revisit some of our favorite busted gymnastics myths—and bust some new myths as well Myths that sound too crazy to be true, naked gymnastics edition Dumb crap left over by haters about periods, height, and lines Who REALLY scored the first perfect 10? The myth of the "candle" mount and the "Liukin" Fighting for justice for Olga Mostepanova, Kerri Strug, Larissa Libby and more Who REALLY won the world all-around title in 2005? Is gymnastics a sport dominated by high schoolers? Was the Sydney vault REALLY set wrong? Was Olga Korbut REALLY the first to do the Korbut? Is Simone Biles the most decorated gymnast of all time? SUPPORT OUR WORK Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ Thank you to our Sponsor: "Broken to Unbreakable" by Lori Vollkommer available on Amazon or wherever you buy your books Buy a Ticket to the Live Show with Cecile Landi and Levi WATCH REPLAY HERE : Buy a ticket now or buy it as a gift! If you purchased a ticket to the live show with Cecile Landi and Levi Jung-Ruivivar benefitting The National Eating Disorder Foundation you can still watch the replay.  Watch highlights before you buy here. 2026 LIVE SHOW SEASON PASSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE That's 4 live show passes for the price of 3! Season passes will be available up until the week of the first show. Buy a 2026 season pass here. UP NEXT: College & Cocktails: January 2nd around 8pm Pacific after we watch Minnesota, Iowa @ Utah (ESPN+) CHAPTERS 00:00 – The Myth: Our Work Busting Gymnastics Myths is Done 00:17 – 2025 Simone Most Decorated Update 01:01 – The Myth: The Beam Is Four Inches Wide 01:24 – The Myth: Gymnastics Myths Are Already Settled 02:13 – The Myth: No One Has Ever Competed Naked at a Meet 04:53 – The Myth: An Active Ceiling Leak Would Stop a World Championship 06:21 – The Myth: Gymnasts Don't Get Periods 08:44 – The Myth: You Have to Be Short to Succeed in Gymnastics 11:22 – The Myth: Tall Gymnasts Have "Better Lines" 15:18 – The Myth: Power Only Comes From Being Small 16:38 – The Myth: The Beam Is Four Inches Wide 18:17 – The Myth: Nadia Was the First Perfect 10 Ever 21:24 – The Myth: Shannon Miller Has Multiple Skills Named After Her 24:08 – The Myth: The "Candle Mount" Has Always Been Required 28:24 – The Myth: The Onodi Is Named for the First Person to Do It 30:01 – The Myth: The Liukin Skill Is What the Code Says It Is 32:31 – The Myth: Removed Skills Were Never Valuable 34:39 – The Myth: The FIG Likes Gymnastics 43:53 – The Myth: Chellsie Memmel Beat Nastia Liukin in 2005 47:45 – The Myth: Gymnastics Careers End After High School 49:30 – The Myth: College Gymnasts Can't Make Olympic Teams 52:05 – The Myth: Elite Gymnasts Peak as Teenagers 54:28 – The Myth: Olga Korbut Was First to Do a Back Tuck on Beam 56:27 – The Myth: Korbut Was the First to Do the Korbut 58:08 – The Myth: The Sydney Vault Was Set Incorrectly 01:02:50 – The Myth: Scores Were Changed in Mexico City 1968 for a Soviet Victory 01:06:08 – The Myth: Simone Biles Held  the All-Time Medal Record pre Antwerp Worlds 01:09:14 – The Myth: Obsolete Events Don't Count Historically 01:15:47 – The Myth: All Gymnastics Myths Are Already Busted 01:16:02 –  Other Myth Busters Episodes RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments Part 1 Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments Part 2 Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments Part 3 Romanian Gymnastics Secret Police Files Project K Episode 2 Project K Episode 1 Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim  

So good you asked for it again. In the summer of 2025, we welcomed 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. CECILE LANDI LIVE SHOW! WATCH REPLAY HERE : Buy a ticket now or buy it as a gift! If you purchased a ticket to the live show with Cecile Landi and Levi Jung-Ruivivar benefitting The National Eating Disorder Foundation you can still watch the replay.  Watch highlights before you buy here. 2026 LIVE SHOW SEASON PASSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE That's 4 live show passes for the price of 3! Season passes will be available up until the week of the first show. Buy a 2026 season pass here. KATYA ZAMOLODCHIKOVA INTERVIEW 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 Khorkina? Which Russian gymnasts inspired her drag name Why gymnastics is "fucking weird" but also amazing Katya's SPICY take on why we should eliminate music from women's floor The skill Katya thinks was created by a "satanic demon" (Hint: it starts with "wolf" and ends with "turn") Katya's thoughts on raising the age limit so minors can't compete in the Olympic Games Designated Gym Nerd-out time to gush over all of Katya's favorite gymnasts and skills RELATED: SUPPORT THE SHOW: Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ 2026 College Fantasy League Open Now Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ Thank you to our Sponsor: "Broken to Unbreakable" by Lori Vollkommer available on Amazon or wherever you buy your books UP NEXT: College & Cocktails: January 2nd around 8pm Pacific after we watch Minnesota, Iowa @ Utah (ESPN+) NEWSLETTERS Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters  RESOURCES 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 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 it, please leave a review.  

Our favorite moments from the virtual live show with Cecile Landi and Levi, (watch highlights here) our 2025 Opportunity for Comedy Awards, two college mini-commissions where we delve into all the Alabama-Georgia drama that never made it into the Suzanne and Sarah documentary.  Watch this week's episode with GIFS on Youtube LIVE SHOW REPLAY IS AVAILABLE: If you purchased a ticket to the live show with Cecile Landi and Levi Jung-Ruivivar benefitting The National Eating Disorder Foundation you can still watch the replay and play the quiz for a prize by going to gymcastic.com  2026 LIVE SHOW SEASON PASSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE! That's 4 live show passes for the price of 3! Season passes will be available up until the week of the first show. Buy a 2026 season pass here.  (5:25) 2025 Opportunities for Comedy Awards The ''OH HELL NO I am not going out of bounds'' award Eastern Michigan and West Virginia both contending for the ''you understood the assignment'' award Why Leila Vasilieva is getting the ''Wolf Turn Protest Award'' Recognizing Zoey Molomo as the winner of the ''Olly Hogben Unintentional Dismount'' award The impact of Courtney McCool's right heel and why it deserves to win the ''Style Accessory of the Year'' award What would this show even be if we didn't have at least six candidates for the ''Fall of the Year'' award Which country wins our ''awkward moment of the year'' award Giorgia Villa, Angela Andreoli, and Martina Maggio making us feel seen with mic issues on a live broadcast 32:05 GYMTERNET NEWS ICYMI the FIG has rebranded themselves as World Gymnastics. Are there any big changes to come from this? How are the NCAA pre-season intrasquad meets looking? Georgia looked goooood What insights did Cecile give us about Camarah Williams and JaFree Scott at the live show? UCLA looked very UCLA in December Kayla DiCello is so back Ana Barbosu is going to dominate at Stanford Nina Derwael was knighted and granted the grade of Grand Officier of the Order of Leopold by King Phillippe as recognition for her gymnastics career   45:29 MINI-COMMISSION: One Per Event Dream Team  Using only gymnasts from the past three years, selecting gymnasts from any team, who would be on our ideal college gymnastics teams?   1:07:11  MINI-COMMISSION: Alabama-Georgia Drama We go into depth as to how the Georgia-Alabama started, the back and forth between the teams, and of course the outfits and ''stereotypes'' of each team The dog bite incident How dominant were these teams in the SEC and nationally? What legacies do these teams carry on that are still applicable today? Want more? Listen to Gym Nerd School 102: College Gymnastics  Thank you to our Sponsor: "Broken to Unbreakable" by Lori Vollkommer available on Amazon or wherever you buy your books SUPPORT THE SHOW: Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ UP NEXT: Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast Friday this week only at noon Pacific/8 GMT NEWSLETTERS Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters  RESOURCES 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 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 it, please leave a review.  

LIVE SHOW: Featuring Cecile Landi and Levi Jung-Ruivivar is this Sunday, December 14th at 3 Pacific/6 Eastern. Get your tickets now to ask questions live! The NCAA unveils major rule changes for 2026, and coaches are going to get so many more yellow cards. We break down the new NQS math, the Georgia Collective's NIL lawsuit, Romania's latest retaliation crisis,  Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos clarifying exclusively to Jessica that she is not in financial distress, plus more info on the American Cup's new mixed-team format. HEADLINES Simone demonstrating why all of us should do gymnastics Five Romanian gymnasts have submitted formal complaints against the Romanian Federation and the Federation is retaliating against their own coaches and athletes What are the conditions the coaches and athletes are facing? How can the FIG continue to allow such a federation to be certified? Thanks to Uncle Tim and his PhD-level gymnastics history research, we know many past Romanian World and Olympic medalists, some with current leadership positions in the Romanian federation, competed with underage or with false birthdays A Melanie de Jesus Dos Santos update. What happened post-Paris Olympics? 2025 World All-Around Champion, Angelina Melnikova, is out of Bundesliga after her club  severed ties with her The American Cup is back! This time as a mixed-team competition When and where will the event be held? How is the format different compared to the European Championships mixed-pairs event? Who are our dream international teams? GYMTERNET NEWS NEW ELEMENT ALERT! The piked full-twisting Jaeger is now the Minamino The Georgia Collective is suing athletes who transferred which could have big implications for the future Athletes.org released a collective bargaining agreement you can see here Max Whitlock has announced his return to gymnastics with the hopes of making it to the Los Angeles Olympics Oksana Chusovitina is training for 2026 World Cups Jayla Hang announced on Instagram she had surgery on her wrist Giovanni Maria Fares, a lawyer formerly at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is the new head of the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation Lawsuits and Dumpster Fire News Chows is being sued after an investigative piece by Eddie Pells of the AP Former Rutgers coach Umme Salim-Beasley is suing the school for wrongful termination The Trump administration is refusing to administer visas to athletes from Caribbean countries, preventing them from participating in LA28 qualifying events NCAA photo shoot drama Two top schools are using horses as their photo theme... (1) (2) Kaylia Nemour has released a book, ''The Shadow of Gold'' The University of Minnesota Men's Gymnastics Club has a new facility European Gymnastics will allow Russians to participate in competitions as neutral athletes, opening up Olympic qualification paths for artistic and rhythmic gymnasts  Ashikawa Urara has retired after years of battling worsening scoliosis Claire Pease commits to Utah! Dulcy Caylor is deferring her NCAA start at Florida to focus on LA28 GYM NERD SCHOOL - College Gymnastics Rule Changes in 2026 What are updates to the National Qualifying Score? What are the differences between the new and old versions? Do we think the changes are positive? Controversy radar activated: some teams will have to drop 2 high scores and some teams will have to drop 1 The Yellow Card Game - becasue these caoches are going to get yellow cards constantly INTERVIEW Gymnastics Medicine interview: pain myths & better injury care with Dr. Elspeth (Elly) Hart DScPAS and Dr. Ezara Greene DPT SUPPORT THE SHOW: Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ UP NEXT: Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast Friday this week only at noon Pacific/8 GMT NEWSLETTERS Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters  RESOURCES 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 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 it, please leave a review

Relive the ridiculous wonderful, and deeply influential 1997–1999 International Team Championships, the friendly meets that defined pre-Sydney Olympics quad. We break down the biggest moments from Vanessa Atler, Dominique Moceanu, Simona Amanar, Ling Jie, Maria Olaru, Kristen Maloney, Elise Ray, and more—plus China's bars innovation, Romania's beam dominance, and the USA's rising queens. From NBC's fingerpainting fluff pieces to vault disasters, age-rule drama, and iconic routines, we revisit the meets that shaped an Olympic generation.  RELATED: Jakarta Worlds Debrief: The Romanian Drama Explained With Coaches Daymon Jones & Patrick Kiens Trouble in Romania The History of Romanian Gymnastics (Commissioned) 80's Fight! The great Soviet Romanian Rivalry (Commissioned) The Fluff Cast: Deva isn't a castle?! World Championships Headquarters Videos, Interviews, Podcasts, Fantasy, Guides from Jakarta World Championships Behind the Scenes - all episodes SUPPORT THE SHOW: Join Club Gym Nerd: https://gymcastic.com/club/ Merch: https://gymcastic.com/shop/ Headstand Game: https://gymcastic.com/headstand-plugin/ Forum: https://gymcastic.com/community/ UP NEXT: Behind The Scenes: Live Q&A podcast Friday this week only at noon Pacific/8 GMT NEWSLETTERS Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters  RESOURCES 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 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