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The big news this week in the elite world is the World Gymnastics Executive Committee’s decision to lift restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes.
With a lengthy, detailed statement describing how they come to this decision, World Gymnastics acknowledged the gravity of the situation in Ukraine while also waxing poetic about inclusion, goodwill and the spirit of excellence.
Just kidding. Here’s the statement in full:
The EC has decided to lift all restrictions applicable to Russian and Belarusian athletes since February 2022, with immediate effect. The FIG Ad-Hoc rules are therefore no longer in force.
And just like that, with all the transparency of a puddle of mud, Russia will be allowed to qualify a team to worlds. As of now, they still can’t go to the Olympics (the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently cleared Belarusian athletes to compete, but not athletes from Russia), and it’s unclear how this will play out with the Olympic qualification process starting up next year.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation is not happy. In a statement, they claim the EC does not have the authority to make this decision, as not all federations are represented there. Sounds reasonable.
They also wrote:
As a result of the war, the Ukrainian people are suffering irreparable human losses. Creating preferences for representatives of the countries responsible for these losses constitutes a form of direct and indirect discrimination against those who have suffered from the aggression.
This is terrible, of course. With the boulder-sized caveat that international policy is not my forte, I also wonder whose suffering matters to World Gymnastics and the IOC, and whether that changes depending on the aggressor. Are these rules being applied fairly, or arbitrarily? My gut (and a suspiciously short statement) tells me it’s the latter.
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U.S. names Pan Ams team
Last week, USA Gymnastics named its five-person team for the Pan American Championships (June 17-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
Nine athletes competed for a spot on the team (results), and, in true Tom Forster fashion, the top six all-arounders made the cut. They also happened to make up the strongest team, but this will never not look suspicious.
Charleigh Bullock, Claire Pease, Lila Richardson, Hezly Rivera and Simone Rose made the team, with Alessia Rosa named traveling alternate.
If you missed the live stream, know that you didn’t miss much, as the video was split into four tiny windows, no athletes were identified, and scores weren’t shown (see above re: puddle of mud).
We do have the results, though. Rivera won the all-around with an incredible 56.200, along with floor (14.100) and beam (14.100). Pease had a strong showing as well for second (55.750). Pease easily won the vault (14.400) and bars (14.400) titles, and she did a pretty decent Cheng.
The two complement each other well in a three-up, three-count situation, with Bullock rounding out the team on bars (14.300) and floor (13.750). Richardson brings a reliable beam routine (13.700) as well.
USAG shared a few routines on social, including Bullock’s gorgeous bars set:
I’m not surprised to see Rivera leading the Pan Ams team again. I do wonder if it would have been wiser to focus on making a bid for worlds, seeing how she missed out last season due to injury. Same with Pease and her poor ankles, honestly. The top five teams at Pan Ams qualify to worlds, so while the team placement matters, the U.S. really doesn’t need to send some of its strongest athletes to make the cut.
But I’m going to assume that people who are smarter than me are making these decisions (ass, you, me, etc.).
As for the rest of the team, it’s a young group — Bullock is still a first-year senior, as is Richardson — and it will be good for them to get all the experience they can before they get into the meat of the elite season.
Plus, things are about to get much more crowded. The full national team camp roster included big names like Skye Blakely, Dulcy Caylor, Jayla Hang, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong. With Jade Carey on the comeback trail as well, it will take a lot of talent to stand out on the road to worlds.
“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.
Elite news
The Oksana Chusovitina World Challenge Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan is happening. Finals are today (vault and bars) and tomorrow (beam and floor). It will be free to stream on Eurovision Sport. Next week, we head to Koper.
The NHK Trophy 2026 concluded (results), and Japan named their worlds team. Sure, they’re four months early, but remember that Japan is on the opposite side of the globe so it’s technically the future there (right?). Nishiyama Misa — a first-year senior — won the all-around, with Kishi Rina taking second.
Liverpool will host worlds in 2030, eight years after hosting in 2022. This year’s worlds is in Rotterdam, and 2027 will be in Chengdu, China. The 2029 worlds host is still TBD.
The Romanian Gymnastics Federation suspended elite coach Camelia Voinea on allegations of abuse. The charges are so serious, they say, that the case has been handed to Romania’s justice system. Voinea is the mother and coach of Sabrina Maneca-Voinea.
Italy’s Giorgia Villa announced her retirement.
NCAA news
After three visits and much speculation, Joscelyn Roberson officially gave Georgia the rose, snubbing UCLA and Florida.
Here is the transfer log courtesy of College Gym News, which is also tracking things here. Follow Greg Marsden on Bluesky for coaching updates.
Five at the IX: Konnor McClain
Konnor McClain went public with the many, many injuries she’s faced in gymnastics. This is something I think we lose sight of in the gymfan world. Injuries aren’t just part of the sport; they can also cause life-long problems.
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