166: Aliya was like Nu-uh Rodionenkos!

2015 Russian Cup All-Around Champion, Daria Spiridonova (RUS, 57.1)

WHAT: Elevate of The Stage: Xcel, J.O., with Auburn vs. Alabama dual meet finale

WHEN: January 16-17, 2016

WHERE: Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama

SPECIALNESS: It's on podium and the college coaches will watch the top levels on Saturday night.

TWO PRIZES:

• $250 off of a gym's registration (20 or more gymnasts) to compete in the JO meet and no team Fees

OR

• Four VIP passes to watch the college meet on the floor, access to hospitality and four free t-shirts. ***With this the winner will have to be someone 18 or older because recruitable gymnasts can't be on the floor during college meet competition (blame the NCAA rules).

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like us on Facebook
2. Send us an email with the subject line “Elevate the Stage” to gymcastic@gmail.com

DEADLINE: Sunday, October 18th More details on the Elevate the Stage podium meet here.

Lauren Hopkins, Uncle Tim, and Jessica chat about:

• The Russian Cup
  • Maria Paseka's Cheng is getting better and better! We think she'll be on the podium in Glasgow.
  • Alla Sosnitskaya won bars but it was actually Viktoria Komova who had the highest bars score of the meet!
  • Ksenia Afanasyeva did choreography that was so lazy, it rivaled the epic Zero-F*^*s-Given floor routine from Tatiana Nabieva last year.
  • The provisional world team and Aliya Mustafa putting Valentina Rodionenko in her place by saying"I will decide if I complete on the basis of my health."
  • Denis Ablyzian put Ri Se Gwan on notice with the most insane tsuk-full-in of all time.
• Osijek World Cup
  • Manrique did not do well and it's a world-wide tragedy.
  • Paula Mejias, Danell Leyva’s teammate at Universal in Miami, triumphed from her vault disaster at the Pan Am Games.
  • Jade Barbosa, grandmother of Brazilian gymnastics, did an absolutely, stunningly solid, wonderful beam routine.
  • Ruby Harold burned the bars to the ground with her sheer awesomeness!
  • Igor Radivilov's neck tattoo continues to slightly inhibit his landing ability on vault.
  • We discuss the need for , pommel horse winner, Louis Smith to harness the power of his D.
• Chinese World Team
  • Bai Yawen is not on the team and Jessica refuses to talk about it.
  • As of this recording it was Fan Yilin, Huang Huidan, Mao Yi, Shang Chunsong, Tan Jiaxin, Wang Yan with alternate Chen Siyi.
  • Tan Jiaxin did an Amanar that terrified the world
  • Mao Yi fell on a Moors and was knocked unconscious during her routine.
  • Shang Chunsong won the all-around and why we think she has a good shot at the podium in Scotland.
  • Defending bars silver medalist, Huang Huidan, struggled on her best event.
• German National Championships
  • Head coach Koch is calling aa champ Elisabet Seitz, Pauline Schäfer and Sophie Scheder, "The Hambüchens" and we don't know how we feel about that.
  • Pauline Tratz wore a technicolor dream coat leotard that either thrilled and/or burned our eyes out.

Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

• Marvin Sharp died in jail, initial reports say it was suicide.
  • Is Coach Rick right -- if female coaches take more leadership roles in gymnastics, will less men mean fewer incidents of sexual abuse?
  • Is a massive lawsuit like the one faced by the Catholic Church force gyms and USA Gymnastics to make Safe4Athletes mandatory for every club?
• You can help Lisa Mason continue to train. Lisa currently travels over 600 miles a week! That's an average of $200/week in gas! HELP LISA HERE.
• Simone Biles gave the world a full camp update with scores and gave such an epic Snapchat that it skipped meme-dome and became a t-shirt.
• The Cure of Wolf Turn-Itis: Please take note, there are now two official GymCastic approved ways to acceptable exit from a wolf turn:
  1. The Melnikova --Step up into an immedate double turn https://youtu.be/k384wBo2KcU
  2. The Chayse Capps -- drop into pron position like a python about to devour the beam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AHqKWTX5a8

• Episode 46: Russian Cup Results and Gabby Dancing With The Stars?
• 117: Youth Olympic Games, Romanian Nationals, Russian & Novara Cup
• 165: Ponor is Back!
• 164: Marian Dragulescu
• 163: ENOUGH
• Tim Daggett: A GymCastic Classic Episode
• Episode 56: Preventing Abuse in Gymnastics

The Gymnasi-Cat Naming Contest WINNER is Rainey, who gets to choose one of these two fabulous, adult small, P&G Championship prizes.

Runner Up

The now legendary, Lil' Kim-Z MouseKill

Pauline Tratz (GER) and her Technicolor Dream Leo