“Did I save these pictures or did these pictures save me.” – Simone Biles posed for the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. Something tells me there’s not much swimming happening in these bikinis, but I’m all for it.

Chinese champs

Liu Tingting took home the gold. Liu Tingting won the women’s all-around title at Chinese Nationals this week, followed by Luo Huan and junior Ou Yushan. Liu Tingting also took the bars title with this routine, Lin Jinru took the vault gold with this killer DTT, and Ou Yushan also won the beam title in what turned out to be quite the splatfest. Shang Chunsong was there as China’s resident veteran, winning floor with this routine.

For the dudes, Deng Shudi took the all-around gold. Snaps to Gymternet China for their coverage—head there for plenty of videos.

Wut happened

More USAG drama. As per usual with USA Gymnastics, there’s a more complicated and thoroughly effed up story behind the Nyman hiring and firing debacle. Turns out, the “conflict of interest” USAG cited when they fired Dr. Edward Nyman just days after his hire was that he failed to disclose misconduct allegations against his wife, a gym owner.

However, sources say USAG knew about these allegations since 2017. Nyman himself is also being investigated for alleged misconduct. Nyman responded to the news in a Facebook post, denying any misconduct and saying that he had been “open and transparent throughout the entire application and interview process.”

In bankruptcy news, USAG wants a mediator to help resolve survivor claims against the organization in court.

LGBTNews. Diego Hypolito came out as gay this week. In an interview with UOL Esporte, he talked about struggling to come out to his religious family and fears that it would affect his career, as well as his hope that his story will help others. 

Federations fails. India’s federation controversy could affect whether athletes get sent to the Asian Championships. In FIG news, turns out Antwerp was awarded 2023 worlds because the FIG set an ambiguous deadline for bidders, leading to arbitration and Japan withdrawing its bid.

Government stuff. Senator Jerry Moran is putting pressure on the FBI to take the results of the investigation into their handling of abuse complaints seriously. Meanwhile, a Michigan congresswoman pressured U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to meet with survivors of Larry Nassar’s abuse, but DeVos says it would be “inappropriate.”

Nassar news. Michigan’s Attorney General asked the Court of Appeals to reject Larry Nassar’s request for a resentencing.

Legal work in Texas. Tasha Schwikert, Alyssa Baumann, and others testified about a Texas bill that would extend the statute of limitations for sexual abuse allegations against organizations today.

NCAA corner

Miss Val’s successor named. Chris Waller, aka the obvious choice, was named UCLA’s new head coach on Wednesday.

Hawaiian shirt alert. Stanford coach Chris Swircek announced his retirement on Wednesday, but says he will stay involved with the team as a volunteer. Denver assistant coach Jay Hogue is also retiring.

Star status

Comebacks. MyKayla Skinner’s DDLO is BACK, BABY.

Upgrades. Pauline Schäfer’s bringing back the classics with an Okino.

Injuries. Aliya Mustafina has elbow problems but of course the real problem, according to Rodionenko, is her weight and definitely not having coaches with disordered priorities.

Staying social

Sveta ❤ Sveta 4 Eva. After all this time, Svetlana Khorkina still loves herself, as seen in this new Olympic Channel documentary. Here’s a play-by-play, and here’s Spencer’s analysis.

Katelyn was on TV. Katelyn Ohashi appeared on a morning news channel to tell you there are illusion turns in the air this week.

New Nike ad. Gabby Douglas appeared in a new Nike ad, though controversy brewed with the brand after this op-ed was published on the same day.

Need to know

Lauren continued her series on this year’s new seniors and the impact they’ll have for their countries in the leadup to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Last words

I don’t wanna talk about it.

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