278: 2000 Sydney All-Around Final (Commissioned)

This week's episode is commissioned by Club Gym Nerd member Courtney, who commissioned an episode all about the Sydney women's all-around final saying simply, "Because I know the gymternet has feelings." We sure do. Thanks for letting us do this, Courtney! Pre-meet

• Russia drama! (Because of course.) Produnova is pulled from the final in favor of Zamolodchikova. Jessica doesn't have feelings about it at all.
• Watch along with us here competition video
• NBC's fluff and obsession with father figures and male influence. (See: The Fluff Cast.)
• The vault is probably fine.

This trash competition

• Why the meet was cursed right from the start.
• Several minutes discussing Kristen Maloney's shiny silver leotard, because of deep and important thoughts.
• Elise Ray's SCARIEST vault warmup of all time.
• Why did some people struggle with the low vault and others not? We have theories.
• KHORKINA and the difference between artistry, elegance, carriage, and actual execution.
• Maria Olaru, how she's basically treated like garbage, and NBC's super inappropriate comments.
• Jessica and Spencer disagree about a certain vault and whether it's hideous or not.
• The improvement in Chinese floor routines from 1996 to 2000.
• Elise Ray doing all three Rays in one bars routine.
• Why Viktoria Karpenko is one of the greatest gymnasts ever to live.

The vault

• Extensive feelings about what SHOULD have happened when the problem on vault was discovered, and why what actually happened was very, very wrong.
  • Should the entire meet have been redone?
  • Should everyone have been made to vault again?
  • How do we account for people making other mistakes after vault?
• Are there any actual, better rules in place should this situation happen again?
• Khorkina's post-vault bars routine and whether the vault issue made her fall on bars.
• One woman with the scariest job in the entire world.

The meet continues

• Yang Yun's beautiful foot-ography and a very rare, very special Spencer Rage-o-Meter about Al's racist floor music comments.
• Everyone who's leading has to collapse Part 7: Yelena Zamolodchikova.
• The most bizarre score of the entire meet (spoiler alert: it's a Romanian bars routine).
• Everyone who's leading has to collapse Part 8: Viktoria Karpenko.
• Al rooting for Lisa Skinner to chuck a dangerous vault she's never done before.
• Andreea Raducan's glory rising to the top above this trash heap.

The aftermath

• Andreea Raducan stripped of her medal for testing positive for a substance found in cough medicine that is no longer even banned.
• Whether we recognize the stripping of Raducan's medal. (We don't).
• In 2010, Dong Fangxiao was found to have been underage and her results nullified.
• The ridiculous inconsistency in the application of age rules.

The big question

• If the vault had been set correctly, who would have been on the podium?

HELLO FRESH

• This episode is brought to you by Hello Fresh! Visit hellofresh.com and use promo code "Gymcastic30" to save $30 off your first week of deliveries.

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RELATED EPISODES

• 19: Andreea Raducan
• 31: Elise Ray
• 28: Kristen Maloney
• 262: 1996 Olympic Event Finals (Commissioned)
• 256: 1996 Olympic All-Around Final (Commissioned)
• 255: 1996 Olympic Team Final (Commissioned)
• 258: The Fluff Cast (Commissioned)
• 254: Vanessa Atler
• 252: Myths, Legends, and Unexpected Moments in Gymnastics History (Commissioned)