Hello everyone, and welcome to Gymnastics Insider!
NCAA semifinals happened, and they were a doozy. The biggest news of the day is that Minnesota made it through to the Four on the Floor for the first time in program history, bumping UCLA off the bracket. Minnesota talked smack on social a few days before the meet and, lucky for them, they delivered.
They’ll face Florida, LSU and Oklahoma in Saturday’s final at 4:00 p.m. ET (watch guide at College Gym News). Here’s how it all went down:
Florida took the first semifinal with a 197.7875. They had jitters on beam to put them in second after the first rotation, but pulled ahead after floor thanks to errors from LSU. They had trouble with landings on vault. Lucky for them, they finished on bars, highlighted by Riley McCusker, who won the title with a 9.9875.
LSU made it through with a 197.4375, but there was some drama. They had trouble controlling their landings on vault to start, but finished the rotation in first. Despite Konnor McClain’s triumphant return with a 9.9125, struggles on bars and beam gave Georgia an opportunity, and they were able to inch ahead of LSU following the third rotation. A strong floor rotation kept LSU ahead by a couple tenths of Georgia, which earned a 197.2625.
Oklahoma advanced with a 198.300 in the second semifinal. They were unbeatable there, besting Minnesota by nearly a point. Starting on vault, they earned a sky-high 49.750, with a leadoff of 9.975 and not counting any score below 9.9375. Bars was less dominant, but they kept up the lead for the entire meet, with Torrez earning a 9.95 on bars, beam and floor in the anchor position.
In another twist, Faith Torrez won the all-around with a 39.7875, in her first all-around performance of the season.
UCLA had a disappointing performance for a 197.2750. Jordan Chiles had a fall on bars, though she did still get the floor title with a 9.9750.
Unfortunately, the fall was emblematic of how the rest of the meet would go, with low-scoring bar routines setting the stage for an overall shaky meet.
Minnesota, meanwhile, kept their cool throughout four strong rotations and weaselled their way into the final by just under two tenths (197.4625).
For the trophy, you know I’m partial to Florida, but I have to give this one to Oklahoma. They’re so dominant, especially on vault, where they are stickier than my toddler’s fingers. Based on what we’ve seen this postseason, I don’t envision a scenario where they don’t run away with it.
If you want in-depth coverage of each and every routine, I highly recommend you head over to The Balance Beam Situation.
- Fisk University had its last meet ever last month, as the program was sadly discontinued. Fisk was the first-ever HBCU to add a gymnastics program in 2023. Talladega College also added gymnastics in 2024 but the program only lasted a year. Meanwhile, Wilberforce University just completed its first season.
- McMurry University announced it will add men’s and women’s gymnastics starting fall 2027.
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Not so perfect
The Kerri Strug biopic Perfect has been canceled following Millie Bobby Brown’s exit over “creative differences” (cue the gymnastics puns from our friends at AV Club).
This is not a particularly unsurprising development considering the production hell this movie has been through. In 2021, it was announced that the film would be directed by Olivia Wilde with Thomasin McKenzie starring. Then Gia Coppola was supposed to direct it, then Cate Shortland. With Brown’s attachment this year and quick exit (why, Millie? Please tell us why), it seems like Netflix finally decided to just shoot the horse.
I think I align with the zeitgeist here in that I’m not super disappointed. A movie about Strug could have been done well, a la I, Tonya. But the risk of it being done poorly was high. Strug’s agency in the moments before her famous vault has been a matter of intense debate for decades, and the factors that went into that decision would have to be explored carefully.
Then, there are the abusers. The depiction of the Karolyis would be controversial but necessary, and their abusive coaching practices couldn’t have been watered down.
Finally, Larry Nassar. Should he have been depicted on screen? I would argue yes, definitely, and that to eliminate him from the narrative would be to sugarcoat a complicated moment that may have helped propel Nassar to greater career heights. However, I can imagine it might have also triggered survivors.
Maybe it’s best to leave this one alone, at least for now.
- Speaking of USA Gymnastics, camp happened. Check out these incredible shots of the national team. I was not there as, sadly, I cannot climb a rope. Here’s your list of attendees.
- The 2028 U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials will be in Louisville.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out 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, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Osijek World Cup
The 2026 Apparatus World Cup series came to a close this past weekend in Osijek.
One of the highlights there was Yang Fanyuwei’s bars, which earned a 15.266 (6.6, 8.666). Her one-armed pirouette into a laid-out jaeger is incredible, though she did flex her feet a tad. Take a look at this gorgeous routine:
Bearing this in mind, I want to fully overhype a showdown with Kaylia Nemour at this year’s worlds. The 15.266 is the highest score of Yang’s career, and matches Nemour’s highest score of this season, from qualifications at the Cairo World Cup.
The only time two have faced off was at the 2025 World Championships, where Nemour took the title with a massive 15.566 (7.1, 8.466) and Yang earned bronze with a 14.500 (6.7, 7.800).
Will Yang bring back her jaeger full to compete with Nemour? Do ittttt! And please, everyone, stay healthy so we can see these two face off at full strength.
The other star of this show was Elena Colas. Fresh off her dominant performance in her senior debut at Jesolo, she won floor gold (13.133), and beam (13.433) and bars (14.300) silver. On floor, she opened with a whip whip to triple twist:
Italy’s Manila Esposito took beam gold (13.666) with an excellent, confident routine in her 2026 international debut. Great start, Manila!
Karina Schoenmaier won vault with a 14.000 average on her DTY and Lopez. She got both hands on the table for the latter, don’t worry.
Now that the series is complete, we have our full rankings based on the athletes’ top three scores. The top eight athletes from each apparatus will qualify to worlds.
Of course, we still have the upcoming continental championships, where all teams and most individuals will qualify to worlds. Anyone who qualifies to worlds through this route will be ineligible to qualify through the world cup route. That means after continental champs are complete, the rankings will change significantly.
Note that anyone wanting to do the all-around at worlds has to go to continental championships, as those who qualify through the world cup series can only compete at worlds on the qualifying apparatus. In essence, this means Kaylia Nemour will still go to the African Championships.
Five at the IX
Minnesota head coach Jenny Hansen talked to a reporter after her team came in second in their semifinal.
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