“Y’all know the dimensions of the beam??” -Ashley Gnat is confused about how this skill would work on a beam that isn’t a foot wide, as am I.

Comp news

The Arthur Gander Memorial—a partial all-around (women competed three apparatus, men four) comp in Switzerland—was held on Wednesday, followed by the Swiss Cup – a co-ed team competition – on Sunday.

In the first match, Jade Barbosa and Flavia Saraiva went 1-2, and Eythora Thorsdottir made her comeback here, placing third. Marcel Nguyen of Germany won the men’s comp, and Oleg Verniaiev hurt both his legs to add to his shoulder injury, but reportedly said “tis but a scratch!” (sorry). On Sunday, Elisabeth Seitz joined forces with Nguyen to grab the Cup and some cash, with Russians Angelina Melnikova and Nikita Nagornyy placing second and a joint Pan-American team featuring Barbosa and Canada’s Cory Paterson ended up in third.

Wut happened

Baker and Baumann came forward. Former national team member Kennedy Baker came forward as a survivor of Larry Nassar’s abuse on Wednesday. Baker, who says her performance on beam at the 2012 Olympic Trials was affected by having received a “treatment” just 30 minutes earlier, filed a lawsuit against USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and others.

Former national team member and current Florida sophomore Alyssa Baumann came forward the next day. Baumann says she is the anonymous survivor who filed a lawsuit against USAG and others in Illinois in August, and that Nassar abused her at least 40 times.

She also says team members were “forced” to see Nassar, and that he gave her pills before her “treatments” at the 2014 World Championships in China. Over 30 months after USAG learned of the abuse, Baumann says, an official interviewed her about it in front of others, and USAG later emailed her parents before she had disclosed the abuse to them.

Galimore is out. USAG Chief Operating Officer Ron Galimore has (um, finally) resigned, the org announced in a Twitter post Friday. They later clarified that Galimore’s resignation was voluntary.

Galimore was a high-ranking official at USAG who has been under fire since it was reported that he helped provide a cover story for Nassar in 2015, after becoming aware of allegations that Nassar had abused gymnasts. Galimore said these reports “are not associated in any manner” with his resignation. USAG said in a statement, “We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Forster questioned decertification. USAG Women’s High Performance Team Coordinator Tom Forster called the USOC’s move to decertify USAG “a strategic move…to appease our critics” in an email to the USAG community on Tuesday. He also questioned whether the USOC could handle taking over the organization.

Former national champ Jennifer Sey says Forster is missing the point: “Once again they suggest that they have a PR problem and not an actual culture problem.”

Fund freeze affects survivors. Survivors say the shutdown of Michigan State University’s Healing Assistance Fund is affecting their recovery. The fund, which was created to provide financial assistance for survivors in need of counseling, has been frozen since July.

• The Sister Survivors looked amazing on the Glamour Women of the Year red carpet, and Aly Raisman spoke.
• Aly Raisman wants the docs from the Ropes & Gray investigation, but lawyers for former USAG CEO Steve Penny and the USOC are trying to block that from happening.
• Simone Biles was not happy that a photo of her was used as a header image for an article about abuse in sports.
• The University of Illinois at Chicago needs $25.2 million to keep their gymnastics program going.

Required reading

• What does the future hold for USA Gymnastics? (Vice)
• It’s time for the U.S. government to take control of U.S. Olympic efforts (The Nation)
• Believed: How he got caught (Michigan Radio)

Star status

Retirements. Loan His of France retired due to recurring injuries.

Injuries. Rhys McClenaghan is skipping Cottbus to deal with his shoulder injury, and Becky Downie had surgery on her ankle. She says the injury occurred before worlds trials.

Upgrades. James Hall is working on a cool skill on pommels that I’ll call the “revolving door,” and Sunisa Lee is doing beautiful things on beam, as always.

Signings. NCAA season is upon us, AND we got a sneak peek of the future freshmen: Jordan Chiles signed with UCLA along with Frida Esparza. Meanwhile, Kara Eaker’s Insta says she’s a “future Ute,” Brooklyn Moors is headed to UCLA, and Kayla DiCello committed to Florida.

Staying social

Get my good side. Teamwork makes the dream work for gymstagrams. Stay safe, kids.

Aliya multitasked. Musty did some squats with baby Alisa, who looked thoroughly confused. And since you were dying to know, Aliya also answered questions like “what is your favorite animal?” in this interview.

Forbes honored Laurie. Laurie Hernandez made it into the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. I sadly didn’t make it and am also too old, but I did make my own list (take that, dad).

Nastia’s single. Nastia Liukin announced that she and fiance Matt Lombardi have split, but also that she’s incredible with or without a man. Here she is doing an Onodi six years out of retirement, as one does.

It’s Sveta’s world. The Alexei Nemov gala thing happened, featuring Svetlana Khorkina and some other, less worthy people.

Last words

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