Hello everyone, and Happy Gymnastics Saturday!
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Things keep crashing down in the elite world, where it was reported by GymCastic this week that Kittia Carpenter has been fired from Buckeye Gymnastics.
Carpenter is known for coaching Gabby Douglas and Nia Dennis at Buckeye. She is also chair of USA Gymnastics’ International Elite Committee (where now-banned GAGE coach Armine Barutyan also serves) and was on the board of directors until 2024.
GymCastic shared an email that gym owner David Holcomb reportedly sent to Buckeye parents on Jan. 6. In it, he explains that he fired Carpenter and fellow coach Charlie Tamayo after learning they were under investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
Holcomb’s email is troubling in that its focus is on the gym’s public profile, with little mention of athlete safety. Learning about the investigation “caused some chaos,” Holcomb writes. He explains that he is acting now to prevent Buckeye from getting bad press. Holcomb adds that he doesn’t think either coach is “in jeopardy,” but is firing both out of an abundance of caution.
He also wrote that “management has not received a single complaint from our athletes or parents in some months,” which, like with the GAGE statement, is not the defense he thinks it is.
Holcomb could be making an assumption that the SafeSport investigation is based on false allegations, and so protecting the gym’s reputation is a good enough reason for the firing. Maybe his confidence in this regard is supposed to reassure parents. But after all we’ve been through in this sport, I’m inclined to think the worst.
Note that this is the third time in just two months that we’ve heard about SafeSport investigations of coaches from famous elite gyms — first Sean Gardner from Chow’s (Liang Chow is named in the lawsuits, and is accused of failing to protect athletes from Gardner), then GAGE, and now Buckeye.
Buckeye and USAG did not respond to requests for comment.
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NCAA gym news
Here’s where we stand after Week 1 of NCAA gymnastics:
UCLA —196.975
Mizzou — 196.850
Utah — 196.625
Clemson — 196.150
Find your full Week 1 rankings at Road to Nationals.
Jordan Chiles killed it in her first week back, earning a 39.725 in UCLA’s opener against California, Oregon State and Washington. Chiles debuted an incredible floor routine that you should definitely watch. It’s pretty dance heavy — around halfway through, I wondered if she planned on doing any more gymnastics skills. But whatevs, she got a 9.95.
This week is more like a normal first week, with everyone else starting their season. Last night was Alabama at Clemson; North Carolina, West Virginia, Temple at Florida; Washington at Arizona; North Carolina State at Auburn; and Oregon State at BYU.
On Saturday, we have a huge meet between LSU, Oklahoma, UCLA and Utah; Missouri, UW-La Crosse, UW-Stout at Nebraska; Georgia at Ohio State; Illinois, Illinois State, Iowa State at Iowa; Arkansas at Minnesota; and another quad featuring California, Kentucky, Michigan and Michigan State. On Sunday, Stanford travels to Denver. Full schedule at Road to Nationals.
A Reddit hero compiled all of the week one leotards for us, and I don’t think it’s possible to wear a standard issue sports bra in a single one of them. Bring on the boob tape! Since no one asked, the only one I like is Mizzou’s.
Ondine Achampong tore her ACL again.
Ciena Alipio was profiled in the OC Register.
Elite gym news
The U.S. held a national team training camp. Here is a list of the participants.
USA Gymnastics will launch a new training and wellness center in 2028.
Sunisa Lee was on Heat Eaters, a Hot Ones spinoff.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is available now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible.
Five at the IX: Addison Lawrence and Hannah Horton (Missouri)
Missouri’s Addison Lawrence and Hannah Horton spoke to the media following their 196.850 win over Iowa State Sunday.
How do you rate your performance today?
Horton: I thought I did quite good actually. Honestly, I, of course, was a little nervous. But honestly, you just have to trust in the practice. Leading up to this week felt quite good, consistent, just trusted in my work. And honestly, I just remembered how I did leading up to this preseason and last week. I was like, ‘OK, I got this.’ So I’m just really glad and grateful that I was able to compete the way I did today and contribute to the team.
You tied your career high 9.9 on bars last time you did that, you were also a last-minute replacement in the bar line up. So is that just something you do now?
Lawrence: I think what’s so cool is that we have so much depth in our lineups. They have said even in the alternate position or in the outside training positions, everyone has a shot to be in the lineup, and it’s whoever’s day is that day. It is so cool that we have so much depth that we’re all able to put up great competition routines.
And so I’m very thankful that the coaches trust me and I trust the coaches to be able to make those switches around. I was very happy to be able to compete today. But also if it wasn’t my day I’d be supporting everyone else because they can hit strong routines as well.
Tell us about the process of choreographing your Tyler the Creator-inspired floor routine with assistant coach Jackie Terpak.
Horton: It was honestly really fun because Tyler the Creator really has been top five for me since 2020. Being able to express myself and listen to something that I actually really love, it makes it easy to get grooving. Jackie’s an amazing choreographer and coach and all the above. So it’s really fun to hear her ideas and bounce off each other.
What was it like for you watching Ayla Acevedo’s floor?
Lawrence: It made my heart so happy because I know how much work she has put in and how much work we put in as a team every day. All last year and in the summer she worked her butt off.
When we saw the lineups and we saw her name on it, we were so excited for her. But we all trusted her because she had been putting in the work in practice and so we knew she was ready. So it was just, ‘Go out and have fun’ for her. And she did. She showed up. So happy for her.
Horton: You can see the growth from her freshman year to now. And it’s like, wow, you have been putting in the work and everything. And I’m so proud of her. My heart was literally like, oh [grabs chest].
You had a great meet to start the year. How will this help you grow throughout the season?
Lawrence: This shows the potential for what the rest of the season can have, and not just for me, but for the team as well. We started with three lead-offs who had 9.9 scores, so we’re all hitting up at that score level. So it just makes me so excited.
I kept saying — and people were laughing at me — but I was just like, ‘We’re really good!’ I was like, ‘We have a great team!’ It was just so cool to see how much growth there has been since I came here as a freshman. I’m so excited for this senior year for myself, and then also just the potential we have for the team as well.
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