It’s time for the 30th edition of You Asked, The Gymternet Answered! We apologize if we haven’t gotten to your question yet, but we are trying to answer them in order. Something you want to know? Ask us anonymously by going through the contact form at the bottom of the page!

Is Lexie Priessman giving elite another try? Or is she going to head to LSU?

Based on what she’s said in recent months, I believe she is going to give it one last shot, and seems really passionate about returning. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up just stepping down and preparing for NCAA. I mean, she had her injury in 2013, another injury in the summer of 2014, and then a shoulder surgery this winter, so for her own good, I kind of hope she just stays in a padded room until her first meet at LSU. But she’s given so much of herself to the sport, I’d understand if she’d want to at least attempt elite one more time.

I’m an Illini gymnastics fan and couldn’t help noticing Emily Lennon’s absence from the roster this year. Have you heard anything?

Emily chose to return to Calgary because she missed her friends and family. She’s now coaching at her old club gym!

How do walk-ons in NCAA work? I assume they have to go through some kind of recruitment process, but do they then have to pay for coaching like they would have when they were doing club gymnastics? Also, how much of their competition/training costs are covered by their school? It’d be ridiculous to expect them to pay for flights and accommodation for away meets, but do they have to pay for things like grips?

A “walk-on” basically means someone who is on the team, but who does not receive a scholarship. Because they are not on a scholarship, they have to pay for attending the school (tuition, room and board, etc). Beyond that, the school funds everything the team will need (attire, travel expenses, equipment). The students are not financially responsible for any of that, walk-on or not. As for things like grips, gymnasts usually purchase those themselves anyway. I’ve never heard of an NCAA program buying things like grips for their gymnasts.

What exactly are reference judges? What are the qualifications to become one as opposed to the standard judging panel?

Do you mean auxiliary judges like line judges? They are judges that have a rating like anyone else, and typically they are invited to do it. It’s usually not a paid job, but is rather a volunteer kind of thing (at least that’s how it works for most J.O. meets…international is likely a different story).

What’s the difference between a “Biles” on floor and a “dos Santos II”? Is it just when they do the half turn?

You’re on the right track, though there’s a little more to it. A Biles on floor is a back double layout half-out. When you see a twist in a skill with two flips, the twist is either described as “in” or “out.” If it’s “in” – like a piked full-in on floor – it means the twist happens in the first flip, and if it’s “out” – like the Biles – it means the twist happens during the second flip. The Dos Santos II is actually an arabian skill, which means the twist happens before the flips begin, changing the direction of the skill and turning it into a double front instead of a double back. So the difference then between these two is where the twist happens (during the second flip in the Biles and before the two flips in the Dos Santos II) as well as the direction of the flips (back for the Biles, front for the Dos Santos II).

Is there a difference between a Yurchenko half and a Yurchenko arabian? I’m confused by the terminology.

This sort of goes hand-in-hand with the one above, so let’s just answer this one too. Usually ‘arabian’ implies that the twist happens before the flips, whereas saying ‘half’ or ‘full’ implies that the twist happens during the flip. I think a lot of college commentators call the Yurchenko half on vault a Yurchenko arabian for some reason, though it’s not really accurate. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Yurchenko half where the twist happens before, and not during, the layout. I think some people just assume the word ‘arabian’ means ‘half twist’ but generally, when you use the term arabian it implies a half twist before the flip, changing the direction of the flip from a back flip to a front flip.

Do you think the Brazilian WAG team has a chance to break into the top 4 in Rio? Russia, China, and Romania have never looker weaker and Brazil has some very promising juniors. Combined with the home crowd support, it may just be what they need to push through to the top!

I don’t think so. They have promising girls who will become seniors next year, but they won’t be able to single-handedly bring the team to the same level as Russia, China, and Romania. Keep in mind, these three nations also have talented rising seniors, as do Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and a whole bunch of teams. At this point, I think they’d be lucky to make team finals, let alone the top four!

Why do they only do the team Worlds every other year?

They don’t! They do a team competition every year except the year directly following the Olympics, and I would imagine it’s largely because it’s difficult for most nations to put full teams together at that point, as there are typically lots of retirements after the Olympics and countries are trying to rebuild their programs, so they focus on the individual that year. But from the following year until the Games, it’s back to team competition.

So whats the deal with Simone and Belize? I think it’s great because she could become the next Chuso, but why Belize? Is her family actually from there and she was granted the nationality because of that, or is it just a professional arrangement like the Russians competing for Azerbaijan?

Her family is from Belize and she was granted citizenship based on that. It’s not really related to gymnastics at all, though she could eventually compete there if she chose to (though I believe she’s said she has no desire to). The situation with Azerbaijan is different because Azerbaijan gives an opportunity to Russian gymnasts who don’t have anything left to contribute to the Russian program, so they’ve worked out a way to keep competing internationally for a different country. Simone is still competing for the U.S. with plans to compete in NCAA when she finishes up with her elite career, and while Belize could be a good option if she wanted to do gymnastics until she was 40, it’s not the reason she obtained citizenship.

I just read the minutes for the latest International Elite Committee meeting, and noticed there was a motion to provide funding for various elites. Is this funding supposed to cover costs for training? I assume all elite gymnasts who go to camp get funding, so how does this not affect their NCAA eligibility?

Funding is different from endorsements because the gymnasts are not being paid or given gifts by sponsors. The money goes directly into their training, travel, and medical needs, which ends up being a lot of money for a gymnast at the national level. They are still considered amateurs because they’re not making a living from the sport through national team funding. Elites on the national team are generally fully funded, with the exception of a few who don’t contribute as much to the team (these athletes receive a stipend of about $500-$1000 per month instead of having their training/needs fully covered). Non-national team members who attend the camp are not funded, nor are gymnasts who attend the developmental camps. It’s really only those who are international contributors in any given year, and it doesn’t have any effect on their NCAA eligibility.

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Article by Lauren Hopkins