The Blind Landing podcast just put out a new story looking into multiple potential violations by the FIG of their own policies. We spoke with a US Congressman, an Olympic gymnast, a high level judge & a sports business expert about the FIG’s missteps. Here’s what we found (1/x)
Rebeca Andrade just released a video of her triple-twisting Yurchenko vault –– and it’s probably the closest anyone has ever gotten to successfully performing it. For 15 years, gymnasts have tried to do it, to no avail thus far. Here’s the history of every attempt before Rebeca:
Rebeca Andrade came back from tearing her ACL *three* times. She grew up having to walk two hours each way to the gym from her favela in Brazil. AND SHE JUST WON HER SECOND OLYMPIC ALL AROUND MEDAL 🥈
Gymnast Kaylia Nemour spent years in a battle with the French federation over her autonomy, eventually switching to represent Algeria. Now, Kaylia just did the hardest uneven bars routine ever attempted & WON GOLD! THE FIRST OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS MEDAL FOR *ANY* AFRICAN NATION 🤯🥇
After an incredible battle between these two champions all week long, Rebeca Andrade finally surpassed Simone Biles on the last event final, floor exercise–– and Biles, being the GOAT in every sense, was the first person to congratulate her ❤️
A fluke mistake took Jade Carey out of the medal stand at the Tokyo Olympic vault final. She's waited 3 years for another shot at this moment – and just got clinched the OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDAL 🥉
THE ROUTINES OF THEIR LIVES. It was SO close. The battle between Kaylia Nemour🥇 and Qiu Qiyuan🥈 will go down as one of the greatest uneven bars match-ups in history.
The sportsmanship of Simone Biles at these Olympic games is unparalleled. Simone has changed the sport of gymnastics not just by what she does on the floor, but by changing the culture and creating a newfound sense of camaraderie across the entire field:
After an incredible battle between these two champions all week long, Rebeca Andrade finally surpassed Simone Biles on the last event final, floor exercise–– and Biles, being the GOAT in every sense, was the first person to congratulate her ❤️
One person who's gotten pretty close to doing it is, maybe unsurprisingly, Simone Biles. For years (mostly early in her career) Biles trained the triple and there’s even footage of Biles in training being able to put the vault to her feet on a landing mat (albeit still in a pit)
For inquiring minds: on the men's side, we've seen folks doing the triple since the mid 2010s –– and there's one gymnast who has, unbelievably, competed a *THREE and a half* twisting Yurchenko: Japanese gymnast Kenzo Shirai, one of the fastest twisters ever in the sport.
North Korea’s Hong Un Jong, one of the most decorated vaulters in gymnastics history, attempted the skill at the 2016 Olympics. While training at the games, Hong was able to put the vault to her feet... but only with the help of a coach literally pushing her up into the air:
Wow — looking at the replay, you can see Kayla actually grab her leg midair. I guess she must’ve just felt it instantly. What amazing air awareness she had to tuck the vault and safely land, a testament to what a pro she is.
By the time the 2016 Rio Olympics rolled around, Biles called the triple “crazy.” At 2024 Paris, Rebeca Andrade submitted the triple-twisting Yurchenko –– but ultimately didn't compete it, opting for easier vaults to ensure medals (avoiding the outcome that Hong faced in 2016)
When Hong went for it in the 2016 vault final without that extra bump, she found herself still twisting into the ground to complete the last rotation (a big cause of knee injuries). Hong made it through safely, but the uncontrolled momentum caused her to spring back and fall.
Though we never saw footage of it, the one person for whom this vault has maybe seemed most realistic is McKayla Maroney. Known for her near-perfect Amanars, Maroney's coach confirmed in 2013 that she was training it –– but alas, she retired shortly after
@ChilesJordan
@Simone_Biles
If you want to hear more about their stories, check out our award-winning podcast Blind Landing, where you can hear all three gymnasts talking about their Olympic journeys. Here's a clip of Jordan talking about how Beyoncé has inspired her on and off the floor:
Some background: For about 30 years, it’s been common to see gymnasts throughout the Olympics do a Yurchenko vault with two twists in the air. Sometimes the top contenders do a Yurchenko with 2.5 twists (“the Amanar”) first performed by Romanian gymnast Simona Amanar in 2000:
Biles planned to compete the vault during her first Olympic run leading up to 2016, but struggled in training to finish rotating the vault fully before landing. In the 2013 documentary Beyond The Routine, she said “They’re so scary... my feet don’t get around, but my body does.”
One of the earliest known attempts at the triple was Russia’s Tatiana Nabieva in 2009. The problem with her attempt is she had to significantly “cheat” the last half-twist after landing by taking a step around once she was already on the ground:
Team USA gymnast Suni Lee has been battling not one, but *two* different Kidney diseases. She was forced to take a break last year and only *six months ago* returned to full-time training. AND SHE JUST WON THE UNEVEN BARS BRONZE MEDAL FOR A SECOND STRAIGHT OLYMPICS! 🥉 Incredible
After she finished her press conference
@sunisalee
decided to stay in the room because she wanted to support
@simonebiles
, who ended up talking about how she supported Suni during the competition 🔁
Alex McMurtry, a former NCAA gymnast for Florida, did the triple into a foam pit for fun one. McMurtry was known for her triple twist on floor –– and had a better attempt than Voinea, but nonetheless was well-into the pit when landing, under where a competition mat would be:
No one else has tried the triple competition, but others have trained it over the years, like Olympic silver vault medalists MyKayla Skinner & Maria Paseka. Training videos often only exemplify the difficulty of getting three twists in, like for Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea:
If you're this deep into the thread, you're probably gonna love this little gem: a Twitter exchange between Kyle Shewfelt, inventor of the 2.5 on the men's side, and Kezno Shirai, inventor of both the triple & the 3.5:
@gpanger
Great question! So in this video, it's being done onto a slightly softer surface –– the mat is sitting approx floor level, but on top of a foam pit, so it has more "give"; because of that, it's hard to say for sure if she could land it in competition & finish the last 1/4 twist
Flavia Saraiva, one of the veterans of the Brazilian team, had a bad fall in warm-up after landing on her face. Just minutes later, Flavia did a crucial bars routine for Brazil to keep them in medal-contention 🇧🇷 Just WOW
@Simone_Biles
@ChilesJordan
If you want to hear more about Rebeca's story, we made an award-winning episode of our critically acclaimed podcast Blind Landing that covers her journey back from three ACL tears to becoming an Olympic champion:
Two more training videos into a foam pit to add to this thread: 1) a young Morgan Hurd, whose triple attempt looked somewhere between Voinea & McMurtry & 2) Maria Paseka, mentioned above, who finishes the final rotation off camera...
NEW BLIND LANDING EPISODE OUT NOW!!! We got on the mic to talk about Rebeca Andrade, one of the most incredible comebacks in sports history and the story of she overcame potentially career-ending injuries to become the best gymnast in the world. Listen 👇
Absolutely didn't intend to have any Shallon Olsen erasure here (who is actually on our next episode of Blind Landing!) –– she submitted the skill back at the 2017 World Championships, though there hasn't been any video of her training or performing it
Get ready for Blind Landing, a five-part podcast that tells the story of one of biggest mistakes in Olympic history: the vault controversy at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The full series drops July 19th. Click the link in our bio to hear a preview & subscribe now 🤸🤸🤸
FIG has a “Safeguarding” policy to protect gymnasts from “any form of harassment." Is it reasonable to say that accountability from the FIG could reduce the harassment/misinformation the floor final gymnasts have faced online? The policy says... 1/x
THE ROUTINES OF THEIR LIVES. It was SO close. The battle between Kaylia Nemour🥇 and Qiu Qiyuan🥈 will go down as one of the greatest uneven bars match-ups in history.
Skye Blakely has pulled out of the Olympic Trials after sustaining an Achilles injury. Up until then, she looked incredible throughout podium training. While we won’t get to see her compete, here are some highlights from Skye’s routines on Wednesday:
EXCLUSIVE: Aleah, Emma and Levi announce plans to go work with local gymnasts in the Philippines after Paris. The trio chatted with us about using their Olympic berths as a way to help create more opportunities for gymnasts based in the Philippines
@Amarynee
Hey there! McKayla Maroney competed the 2.5 twisting vault (below), whereas this vault is a half twist more. One way to tell the difference is that the vaults end with a ".5" have the gymnast finishing facing away from the vault, wheres the triple has them facing the vault table
UPDATE: The FIG has decided that ANY gymnast with an active FIG license can join the athletes' meeting online this year (not just ones at worlds). This is a chance for gymnasts to share concerns & questions with the decision-makers at the FIG (below are details on how to attend)
Two days from now, on Thursday October 21st, from 13:45 –15:15 (Japan time), the FIG is holding the WAG athletes' meeting (happening online, remotely this year). Here's why this meeting is so important:
One more quick plug here: if you want to hear more gymnastics deep dives & explainers, check out our award-winning podcast Blind Landing! You can help support critically acclaimed independent journalism by taking a listen to our show ❤️
@Kaylianemour
If you want to hear more about Kaylia’s story and gymnastics at the Paris Olympics, consider checking out the latest episode of our award-winning sports podcast Blind Landing (featuring guest host Monica Padman from Armchair Expert!)
Very random, but I stumbled across this list of the top juniors from 2018 Nationals –– kind of an amazing testament to the increasing longevity of careers we're seeing nowadays...
Shilese Jones just grabbed her knee after landing vault. Simone Biles ran over immediately to talk to her. Her coach Sarah is walking her off the floor right now.
Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos, the top French gymnast, is having a really hard day in Olympic qualifications, with mistakes on her first three events. Going into the last rotation, Melanie’s teammate Marine Boyer just gave her a long pep talk that ended in a pinky swear 💕
As the sole authority who can definitively say "the gymnasts did no wrong, we messed up" does their silence fall under the very same inaction they warned about? The policy says "We all share in the responsibility to identify the problems and to prevent athletes from suffering."
Uh oh. Simone Biles holding her left calf, talking to coaches & medical staff. Hard to hear, but sounds like she said: "Something in my calf", "right where it happened", "like a fucking tear" and "I can literally feel it though".
Valentina Georgieva (BUL) just did the two best vaults of her life at the Olympic vault final and did a big fist bump into the air of excitement right after 🫶
Suni Lee said an "Oh my gawd" of relief after nailing the bars dismount. Makes sense. She has gone immediately after everyone who's had an injury. Suni was on floor after Skye during podium, went after Shi during warm-ups today, and then right after Kayla on first rotation vault
I just talked to Fred Richard’s dad, Carl. He hasn’t talked to Fred yet at all today. I asked him what’s the first thing he’s gonna say when they finally get to speak. “I love you.”
just learned that Olympics website has pronouncers for nearly every athlete saying their own names (so there’s really no excuse for commentators getting them soooo wrong….)
Olympic gold medal Kaylia Nemour has just affirmed that she is without doubt the single greatest uneven bars gymnast in the history of the sport by hitting a routine that seemed unfathomable until Kaylia came onto the scene and made the impossible, finally, possible 🥇
They define harassment as including online, defining it as "misuse of power by people in positions of trust, influence, and authority", warning that "inaction" could fuel consequences, "even where no harm is intended." So is it then fair to ask the FIG...
@gpanger
(2/2) ... you can see that the momentum of not having fully finished the twist causes her to take a big step back after to overcompensate –– all that momentum needs somewhere to go because it's not absorbed by the landing. Again, that's just a minor deduction and it would still
@gpanger
(1/2) As you can see in this screenshot, Rebeca's just a tiny bit under-rotated –– if she had fully finished the third twist, her body would look more in profile here (i.e. we wouldn't be seeing her left leg). It would likely still get credit, but the fact that she's still
*NEW EPISODE OUT NOW* For many Asian Americans, seeing Kristi Yamaguchi win gold at the 1992 Olympics was everything - but what was her journey to that moment like? And what happened after? Listen to reporter
@sritoper
's deep dive on
@kristiyamaguchi
here:
IT'S HERE!!! Listen to all five episodes of Blind Landing right now! The podcast tells the unbelievable true story of the vault controversy during the women’s gymnastics all-around final at the Sydney Olympics –– available wherever you get your podcasts:
The Blind Landing podcast is looking to chat with a sports lawyer for an upcoming episode who might be able to help break down the CAS gymnastics case to our audience, explaining some legal terms & how a body like CAS works. If you or someone you know might want to connect, DM!
Surprise! There's a NEW ep of
@BlindLandingPod
out now with guest co-host
@danusiafrancis
⭐️ We debriefed about the Olympic team final and the incredible superstar performance by Flavia Saraiva, who competed with a bruised eye socket (!!!) Listen here:
NOVO EPISÓDIO DE BLIND LANDING!! Pegamos o microfone para falar sobre Rebeca Andrade, um dos retornos mais incríveis da história do esporte e a trajetória de que ela superou lesões que poderiam acabar com sua carreira, para se tornar a melhor ginasta 🥇
Gymnastics fans, I would love your help for an upcoming Blind Landing episode: can you chime in below reminding us of some of the moments of camaraderie we saw during women’s gymnastics at the Olympics? I.e. Simone cheering Rebeca on, Ellie hugging Melanie, etc. Thank you!! 👇
NEW EPSODE OF BLIND LANDING OUT NOW!⛸️ The story of figure skating pioneer Mabel Fairbanks. As a Black skater in the 1940s, Mabel paved the way for generations of skaters of color. Featuring never before heard audio of Mabel! Listen to the full story here:
Jordan Chiles Jade Carey & Simone Biles each just did their best vaults of the year to kick off the first rotation of team final with a 1.5 lead over the rest of the field.
what if Ana Barbosu, Jordan Chiles & Sabrina Voinea got together and formed a sisterhood of the traveling pants where every four months they send the medal to one another
ITALIAN GYMNAST ALICE D’AMATO JUST EARNED ITALY’S FIRST EVER OLYMPIC GOLD IN GYMNASTICS!🥇Alice finished 4th in the all-around. Then she finished 5th on uneven bars. She said it was all about building confidence. On the balance beam today, she found that confidence 🇮🇹
*NEW EPISODE OUT NOW* We had no plans to cover gymnastics this season... but we got the chance to talk to Ukrainian gymnast Illia Kovtun about competing with the backdrop of a war at home and wanted to bring you this timely story 🇺🇦 Listen to the ep here:
Seeing all the Paris podium training videos today, we wanted to do an TBT to Skye, Kayla & Shilese's podium training at Olympic Trials, before they were sidelined with injuries 😢 It wasn't being streamed, but here are some videos we took –– first up, Skye Blakely on beam + bars:
Suni Lee on the balance beam final: “It was just crazy to kind of see how everybody was going down like that... I think it’s just because there’s just so much pressure, you could feel the tension in the room...” 1/2
Jordan Chiles ran around the floor while Simone was going so that she could be where Simone starts her 4th pass and do (what can only be described as) scream encouragement at Simone at the top of her lungs
@GlennonDoyle
One important update/point of clarity here: The Romanian's did *not* want Chiles to lose her medal. At every turn, the pushed for her to keep it. They just wanted everyone affected to share a bronze. In spite of that plea, the IOC decided to stripe it.
In the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week, the Romanians asked for Jordan Chiles to keep her medal and for all three to share the bronze. The IOC decided of their own accord to strip Chiles of her medal. No party involved was asking for that.