256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)

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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