Court of Arbitration for Sport denies Israel’s appeals to participate in worlds — Suni Lee coaches a YouTube star

The Israeli Gymnastics Federation (IGF) this week appealed the visa denials to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). (That link is paywalled; here is a much briefer, non-paywalled take.)

If the CAS sounds familiar, that’s where Jordan Chiles appealed the removal of her Paris Olympics floor bronze last summer.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG, not to be confused with IGF) declined to use its ability to cancel or relocate an event when visas are denied to a member federation. It instead issued a statement saying it “takes note” of the visa denial.

Now, worlds start next week, and of course a relocation would be very difficult and a cancellation would be devastating. However, I have to wonder if either option was seriously considered given the speed of the response (FIG is not known for speedy responses).

The IGF filed two appeals, one asking the CAS to “annul” the FIG’s statement. The second asked the FIG to force the participation of Israeli athletes in the world championships.

Both appeals were denied. At press time, it looks unlikely that Israel will be able to participate.

Indonesia is bidding to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. I hope this decision to bar another country’s participation this close to the competition, and the actions of other governing bodies in that decision, affects its ability to secure those Olympics.

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On a related note, have you figured out how you are going to watch worlds this week?

After all, Jakarta is on the other side of the world if you’re U.S.-based, and that means events air live in the middle of the night or very early in the morning. (I’m having many flashbacks to the Tokyo Olympics, y’all.) 

The Gymternet has a comprehensive guide to watching worlds this week. 

USA Gymnastics posted the NBC and Peacock schedule. You will see that NBC is helpfully replaying the women’s all-around final on Oct. 26 at noon for those of us who value our sleep and/or must be at work right after it begins on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. ET (ahem). 

Once we’re underway, The Balance Beam Situation is all ready for qualifications. Check there for updates. 

GymCastic has two world preview episodes up: Part 1 (who might make the all-around and qualifications deep cuts) and Part 2 (who might make the event finals). 

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Other gym news

USA Gymnastics has a few training shots of the women’s team from Jakarta up on its Instagram. 

Watch the Brazilian women training in Jakarta: 

College Gym News features leotard designs that scream school spirit (in the weirdest way).  

Five at The IX: Suni Lee (and Frederick Richard) coach @IShowSpeed at gymnastics

YouTube star IShowSpeed, in conjunction with Dick’s Sporting Goods, is trying his hand at various sports. In this edition, he comes face-to-face with the high bar, parallel bars and uneven bars (plus the floor exercise) and realizes gymnastics is — as we know — harder than it looks.