Jordan Chiles

A roundup of this week’s news, competitions, social media gossip, and more!

In the News

Iowa State cancels season. After a rough start to the 2026 season, Iowa State – in its third year under NCAA head coach and former Alabama standout Ashley Miles Grieg – decided to cancel the remainder of the programming for this year, with the Athletics Department stating that there are not enough student-athletes available to safely compete. The program saw a lot of scary falls and low scores in its first few meets, and then opted to cancel its match against West Virginia last week before making the decision to shut things down completely. Our thoughts are with the athletes who worked so hard to get to this point and will lose out on the bulk of this year, and possibly even on a year of eligibility if they are not granted an exception.

European Gymnastics podcast announced. A brand-new gymnastics podcast hit the airwaves this week with a debut episode featuring Max Whitlock and Giulia Steingruber. The podcast is hosted and produced by the extraordinary commentary team of Olly Hogben and Blythe Lawrence, and in addition to interviews with the sport’s stars, the monthly podcast will also include news, competition updates, and technical explanations. You can listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Aly Raisman chats with Michelle Obama. Speaking of podcasts, Olympic champion Aly Raisman was a guest the podcast IMO with Michelle Obama & Greg Robinson, where Raisman and the hosts discussed mental health and navigating life after retiring from an elite sport, among other things. Definitely worth a watch or a listen!

Philippines added to the American Cup. USA Gymnastics has added the Philippines to its list of teams expected at this year’s American Cup, with athletes TBD as of today. The nominative roster was also updated last week with a few notable changes, including the addition of Olympians Nicolau Mir and Joel Plata to the Spanish team, while Ruby Stacey and Emily Roper will step in for the British team in place of the previously announced Ruby Evans and Alia Leat.

WE’RE GOING TO THE WINTER CUP! I took the past 18 months off from in-person gymnastics coverage so I could focus on my day job slash career (YAWN), travel, and dance training (I started pointe a couple of years ago and made my lil ballerina stage debut last summer at the tender age of 40!), but I’ve missed competitions so much, and am thrilled to make my way back at next week’s Winter Cup! I’ll be live blogging and sharing interview moments throughout the weekend in Louisville, and by the way, here’s the updated roster with a few additional names as of February 10.

Competition Updates

Redick, Émard win all-around titles in Canada. 2025 Pan Ams beam champion Lia Redick and 2024 Olympian William Émard won the senior all-around titles at last weekend’s Elite Canada competition, where Émard also led the Canadian team to a narrow win in a friendly team competition against Stanford University and took the floor, rings, and parallel bars titles. [WAG Results] [MAG Results]

Oklahoma goes 328.650 to win at home. The fifth week of NCAA competition saw the highest score of the season from Oklahoma, which posted a 328.650 at home to defeat Ohio State and Air Force. The score pulled the Sooners’ average up to a 323.613, more than a point ahead of Stanford, which counted a 321.465 in its friendly meet against the Canadian national team. [Results]

Upcoming Meets

Welsh Championships. The first national championship meet of the year began yesterday with the youth competitors, while today’s action will see the juniors, the seniors will go tomorrow, and the masters finals will be held on Sunday.

2025 world floor medalist Ruby Evans is expected to compete here, and Olympic medalist Jennifer Gadirova is also on the list, which would mark this her first competition back since 2024 if she ends up making it. Also interesting is Max Whitlock on the MAG roster, which would make this his comeback competition after he announced he was no longer retired. Live scores are available on GymData and the senior competition will have a live stream, with the link still to come.

Rochester Classic. This update New York invitational includes the fourth U.S. national elite qualifier of this season, with all of the elite optional sessions held today. As one of the final qualifiers in advance of next week’s Winter Cup, we’re likely to see a larger field than at some previous qualifiers. Live scores are available on Meet Scores Online.

Top 12 Series 2. The second MAG regular season meet for the Top 12 league in France will take place on February 14, with Vallauris at Monaco, La Madeleine at Elbeuf, Antibes at Oullins, and Orléans at Kingersheim. More details are available on the competition website, including full team rosters for each meet-up.

NCAA Week 6. Most NCAA MAG teams have this weekend off in advance of next week’s Winter Cup, but we’ll still see a few match-ups, including tonight’s All-Academy Championships, where Air Force, Army, and Navy will face off, while tomorrow’s schedule will feature Springfield at Michigan and a quad at Nebraska also featuring Greenville, Simpson, and William & Mary.

Must-See Content

Jordan Chiles scores a 10 with her Prince routine in Minnesota. UCLA star Jordan Chiles brought back her Prince routine on floor in UCLA’s meet at Minnesota last week, where she then gave a speech about how the routine was a “love letter” to the people of Minnesota, and that she supports them for everything they’re going through, referencing the ICE agents murdering two civilians standing up for their immigrant neighbors during protests last month. We don’t deserve her.

Article by Lauren Hopkins