“Tipsy in Lima airport 😂” -Danusia Francis made history at Pan Ams and then had some well-deserved airport fun. Stay hydrated, friends.
Comp news
Pan Ams wrapped up. Ellie Black won her second consecutive Pan American Games all-around title with an excellent performance, leading in all four rotations. Riley McCusker came in second with a bars fall and an otherwise solid performance, and Flavia Saraiva had a fall-free day for bronze. Kara Eaker had a less-than-stellar competition, falling on beam and sitting a floor pass but still casually coming in fourth (live blog).
In event finals, Black took the vault title with an incredible performance, got a bronze in the bars final, and took beam silver, making her the most decorated female gymnast of the Games. McCusker won bars gold and beam bronze. Eaker had a revenge beam to win that title by a whopping 1.7 points, and took silver on floor. Brooklyn Moors won floor with a gorgeous performance, very selfishly pushing Black out of contention for a medal on every event.
In dudeland, Brazil’s Caio Souza and Arthur Mariano took the top two all-around spots, followed by Canada’s Cory Paterson, with top qualifier Robert Neff of the U.S. finishing seventh (live blog). (Event finals live blogs: day 1, day 2; full results: men, women)
Other things. Aleah Finnegan withdrew from the vault final due to what looks like a concussion. Inquiries—which, we were reminded, are expensive—were filed for literally everything and all denied. Tom Forster called the all-around results “bittersweet” and had thoughts about the temperature in the arena and long wait times.
German nationals happened. Sarah Voss is your German all-around, vault, and beam national champion, and Kim Bui’s still going strong, placing second all-around and putting the rest of us old broads to shame.
One more thing. The roster for the Aurora Games, to be held August 21st, is out (snaps to Gymcastic). Alicia Boren, McKenna Kelley, and Katelyn Ohashi headline for Team Americas; Danusia Francis and Tatiana Nabieva are the big names for Team World.
Wut else happened
Bill would give Congress USOPC oversight. Senators Jerry Moran and Richard Blumenthal introduced a bill on Tuesday that would give Congress greater oversight of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee after an investigation found that the org had “knowingly concealed” Larry Nassar’s abuse.
The congressional investigation also found that USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University, and the FBI all failed to respond, allowing Nassar to abuse more women and girls. Among other provisions, the bill would allow Congress to dissolve the USOPC’s board and would require $20 million to be paid to SafeSport.
Simone Biles responded to news of the report on Twitter, saying, “The more I learn, the more I hurt…Many failed us. And they continue to fail us.”
New details on Anna Li. The Orange County Register has some new details regarding the abuse allegations against USAG athlete representative Anna Li and her mother, Legacy Gymnastics coach Jiani Wu, and they’re pretty horrific.
Legacy gymnasts and parents have accused Li and Wu of verbal and emotional abuse at the gym, and Wu has been accused of physical abuse for allegedly pulling gymnasts’ hair. Among other complaints, accusers say Li and Wu body shamed gymnasts, punished them using humiliation tactics, forced gymnasts to hold handstands for 10 minutes, taped gymnasts’ mouths shut, and expected them to train through injuries.
The accusers also say the pair sent gymnasts to Larry Nassar for treatment and ignored other doctors’ orders, and that USAG has known about the complaints since 2014. Li and Wu deny the allegations, and they were defended in the article by their attorney, who also represented serial killer John Wayne Gacy #optics.
Lou Anna Simon retires with payout. Former MSU President Lou Anna Simon, who’s been charged with lying to investigators about when she knew of Larry Nassar’s abuse, will get a $2.45 million retirement package after she officially retires at the end of the month, it was announced Tuesday.
The news caused an uproar from many survivors and their supporters, including Sarah Klein, who called the payout “Disgusting.”
Klages charge might be dropped. A motion has been filed to have former MSU gymnastics coach Kathy Klages’ felony charge dropped due to insufficient evidence. Klages is charged with lying to investigators about when she found out about Nassar’s abuse.
Required Reading
- All-Around, the documentary following Morgan Hurd, Angelina Melnikova, and Chen Yile, is out Tuesday, August 6th (Olympic Channel)
- Congress responds to the Larry Nassar scandal with a half-measure and handshakes all around (Deadspin)
- Olympic leaders neglected abuse. Consistent federal oversight is only hope for change (The Washington Post)
- A strong reform bill might help restore some faith in the U.S. Olympic officials (The Washington Post)
Star status
Injuries. Jordan Bowers revealed that she pulled out of the 2019 season after a February back injury, but is back in the gym.
NCAA corner
Alaska is a go for 2019-20. After concerns arose last week that the program might be cut, the University of Alaska Anchorage confirmed that the gymnastics team will compete this season.
Sad news from Kentucky. University of Kentucky 2019 grad Aubree Rosa was seriously injured in a car accident on Monday, July 29th (GoFundMe at the link). Our thoughts go out to Rosa and her loved ones during this difficult time.
Staying social
Valeri said some stuff. And by that, I mean he said some problematic shit, including that he resigned from his job as U.S. national team coordinator due to some “made-up reason,” and that the current code of points “suits African Americans,” who are “very explosive.” Face, meet palm.
Just Chuso things. Oksana Chusovitna got “Chusa” bedazzled on the ass of her shorts, so I got “Chusa” bedazzled on the ass of my shorts. She also wants to qualify for the Olympics through the worlds all-around.
Get off my TV. MLR’s exercise video for children (?) will haunt me until the end of my days.
Somebody do this. Chellsie Memmel did an illusion turn into a side aerial and it’s GLORIOUS.
Gotta get that D. Simone saw Laurent doing math in his diary.
Last words
We are so saddened to hear that gymternet community member @CraigLikeMyList has passed away. Our sincere condolences go out to Craig’s loved ones, and a reminder to the gym community that we are always here for those in need.
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The Gymternet 
I’m wondering if Aleah’s parents don’t understand how serious concussions are. I’ve met parents who didn’t understand it in the past and would send their kids to school or competitions when they aren’t healed. It’s frustrating but this attitude is still extremely common (i.e. how long ago did the NFL finally release info on this to their own players?) Really glad that the doctors stepped in, though. Concussions are no joke and I really hope that these doctors can stress that to her parents.
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Agree! There is a massive amount of misinformation/lack of information about the real severity of a concussion. I’ve seen doctors who don’t know how bad they can be due to efforts by groups like the NFL to block funding/research regarding the long-term (and sometimes permanent) side effects that can accompany even 1 bad hit. Concussions are mild traumatic brain injuries! If everyone called them by their real name, maybe people would take them more seriously.
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Wow… I’m sincerely shocked to hear of those terrible allegations against Li and Wu. Anna always seemed like such a sweet person from what I saw from her in 2011/12, she was always smiling and hugging her teammates. Plus, her Instagram feed was always so positive and cute and stuff… I guess it was a facade. I’m really disappointed, more than anything, that Anna would use these terrible methods against her gymnasts, especially considering that she herself was a gymnast just seven years ago. I’m guessing that at least some of the same tactics were used against her while she trained (I know that she was the coach’s daughter, but still), so she REALLY should know better than to turn around and do the same thing to young, impressionable girls. Also, Anna trained under Miss Val at UCLA for four years, so it’s not like she hasn’t ever seen a positive gymnastics environment before. Reading about her mom, I guess, sadly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. This is heartbreaking.
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I am starting to wonder if gymnastic coaching is something like a huge test to one’s patience…..lol…Is it something that can get so frustrating sometimes that gets to people’s limit sometimes and start to get really frustrated?
still no excuse for the abuse… if you can’t handle the frustration that comes with it then don’t do it…
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I think it’s more the fact that Anna was trained in a way that she *thought* helped her become a Worlds team member and helped her parents become Olympians. She probably thought that NCAA coaching wasn’t up to par with elite coaching and reverted back to the ways that her parents taught her were acceptable. It’s weird though, because they’re denying this. I don’t know if they’re denying that they did those specific things or if they’re denying that those specific methods are abuse.
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I work in a field in which verbal abuse, emotional abuse, humiliation, and other forms of mistreatment are rampant. Without fail, the perpetrators always defend their actions with: “I had to go through it, they’ll be fine. This is the only way you can be competent and successful in this field.” I think the situation here might be similar. When abuse has become the status quo, a shocking number of people buy into the delusion that the abusive treatment is acceptable and even necessary to make people successful. Though arguments like: “I had to go through it,” and “lots of other people do it,” should be easily identifiable as terrible arguments, quite a lot of people buy into these notions.
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I think you have misleading information. Grace McCallum won the gold all around at last years Pan Am 2018(plus team gold, UB gold, beam and vault bronze) Ellie Black won gold in all around this year and I think 2015, not consecutive years, of course and many other medals as well. Not trying to take away from her having had a very successful competition at all, just not accurate 🤔
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Ellie Black won the AA at the 2015 Pan Am GAMES. Pan Am Championships are a different competition.
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