Gymternet Weekly: Tokyo friendly meet roster revealed, major NCAA moves (October 19 – 25, 2020)

By Patricia Duffy | October 26, 2020
Gymternet Weekly: Tokyo friendly meet roster revealed, major NCAA moves (October 19 - 25, 2020)

It’s never a dull week around the gymternet! Here’s our weekly roundup of news, videos, and more from your favorite gymnasts!

Click here to read last week’s edition of Gymternet Weekly.

P.S. Have a news item or video you think should be considered for “Gymternet Weekly”? Email a link to [email protected]!

Top headlines from this post

– FIG Friendship and Solidarity meet: Roster, schedule revealed

With less than three weeks until competition, a tentative roster for the FIG Friendship and Solidarity meet has been revealed.

– #NCAAGym: Prominent coach resigns and more surprising news

The shocking NCAA gymnastics news just kept coming last week, with Washington head coach Elise Ray-Statz abruptly announcing her resignation, Utah’s Deanne Soza retiring before even making her NCAA debut, and one not-so-surprising deferral.

– 2020 Euros: Countries dropping like flies

2020 Euros will not be the meet it was once expected to be, as a handful of the continent’s top countries have pulled out of the meet in order to reduce the risk of their athletes contracting the coronavirus.

1.
Tentative roster, schedule revealed for November FIG Friendship and Solidarity meet

With all invited countries a go and less than three weeks until the FIG Friendship and Solidarity competition is set to kickoff in Japan, a tentative roster is making its way around the gymternet of which 32 athletes will be competing in the unique event.

Click here to view the roster of 32 athletes that will travel to Tokyo and compete against one another in an effort to send a clear message in tumultuous times: “Friendship and solidarity shall triumph above all.”

2.
#NCAAGym: Washington head coach resigns plus more surprising news

In what is easily one of the most surprising developments of the NCAA off-season, Washington head coach Elise Ray-Statz resigned as the Huskies’ head coach on Wednesday. The Olympic bronze medalist and her husband have made the decision to leave the Seattle area and move “closer to family as [they] raise [their] young kids.”

Click here to read the full announcement.

Over at Utah, the Red Rocks revealed that promising young freshman Deanne Soza is retiring from the sport before she even has the chance to make her NCAA debut. “I feel that it’s time for me to retire for the benefit of my physical, mental, and emotional well being,” Soza said in her statement. Prior to joining the Utes, Soza trained under Kim Zmeskal-Burdette at Texas Dreams.

Click here to read more about Soza’s retirement and her full statement.

In kind of surprising but not as surprising news as the above stories, UCLA SID Liza David confirmed to College Gym News that Emma Malabuyo is delaying joining the Bruins and enrolling at the school until next year. No reason was cited, but the former National Team member has been sharing glimpses of herself training elite-level skills in recent weeks and may be taking one last shot at the Tokyo Games.

3.
2020 Euros: Countries dropping like flies

If it was held on time back in the spring, the 2020 European Gymnastics Championships would’ve been exciting meets to watch, but alas, this is 2020, and nothing goes according to plan in 2020!

Now, 2020 Euros will be held in December in an entirely different country (Turkey), with no Olympic berths at stake (essentially, it’s a consolation meet), and without many of Europe’s top athletes (boo). In the past week, Spain joined the growing list of countries that have opted out of attending the meet. Other countries that will not send delegations include Great Britain, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands.

4.
Online Gym School goes global with new program

Online Gym School is back with another virtual program for anyone and everyone who wants to be inspired and get moving with some of the sport’s top gymnasts. This time, OGS is going global with its “Around the World” curriculum. Ellie Black (CAN), Isis Lowery (AUS), Danusia Francis (JAM), and Courtney McGregor (NZL) are among those scheduled to teach a class.

Learn more about OGS’ latest program and sign up here.

5.
Simone Biles delivers inspirational message to foster care community

For Simone Biles, seeing was believing.

The 30-time World and Olympic gymnastics medallist delivered an inspirational message to a digital audience over the weekend for a Project Glimmer fundraiser, saying that watching Gabby Douglas win all-around Olympic gold at London 2012 made her believe she could, too.

“Growing up, I didn’t see very many black gymnasts, so whenever I did, I felt really inspired to go out there. I wanted to be as good as they were,” Biles recalled. “I remember watching Gabby Douglas win the 2012 Olympics and I was like, ‘if she can do it, I can do it.’”

Read the full story from Olympic Channel here.

6.
Tweets and things

Training clips: Helen Hu’s stunning beam mount, Amanars galore, McClenaghan flares in slow mo, and more

This week’s training clips section includes 25 videos that feature Helen Hu (USA), Larisa Iordache (ROU), Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), Sam Mikulak (USA), and many more national and international athletes!

  1. Rhys McClenaghan (IRL)
  2. Minnesota Men’s Gymnastics
  3. Elisabeth Seitz (GER)
  4. Joe Fraser (GBR)
  5. Michael Reid (JAM)
  6. Caitlin Rooskrantz (ZAF)
  7. Adrian de los Angeles (USA)
  8. Sergey Eltsov (RUS)
  9. Heath Thorpe (AUS)
  10. Chellsie Memmel (USA)
  11. Jake Jarman (GBR)
  12. Sam Mikulak (USA)
  13. MyKayla Skinner (USA)
  14. Georgia Godwin (AUS)
  15. Paul Juda (USA)
  16. Kazuki Nakao (JPN)
  17. Dmitriy Lankin (RUS)
  18. Sanna Veerman (NED)
  19. Denis Abliazin (RUS)
  20. Rebeca Andrade (BRA)
  21. Oregon State Women’s Gymnastics
  22. David Belyavskiy (RUS)

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