Gymternet Weekly: First FIG meet since spring; pivotal week for #SaveNCAAGym movement (September 28 – October 4, 2020)

1.
2020 Szombathely World Challenge Cup sees ten nations podium

Ukraine was the most successful nation at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup that was held this past weekend in Szombathely, Hungary. The cup marked the first international competition held by the FIG in over six months, since the pandemic took hold.

Ukrainian Petro Pakhniuk accounted for one of his country’s four apparatus titles, earning his gold medal with a parallel bars routine that featured a new element that could be named after him–a Sasaki from upper arm (F).

Read the full recap here.

2.
#SaveNCAAGym developments

It was a pivotal week for the campaigns trying to save various NCAA gymnastics teams and NCAA men’s gymnastics as a whole.

In response to the current NCAA men’s gymnastics situation, USA Gymnastics released a video featuring U.S. men’s National Team members sharing what being a student-athlete and representing their university has meant to them.

The College Gymnastics Association (CGA) recently announced that its STRONGER TOGETHER Campaign has surpassed $50,000 in donations, with Minnesota’s men’s team raising the most money–$27,536. But the CGA’s campaign is far from over. This upcoming week, specifically, is pivotal for the Golden Gophers’ men’s team as the Minnesota Board of Regents will meet on Thursday to decide the fate of the program. Supporters can help by emailing the board asking it to vote against cutting men’s gymnastics, signing the petition, donating to the CGA’s campaign, and posting/sharing on social. Click here for all of those links.

On the women’s side, the University of Alaska, Anchorage women’s team formally announced its fundraiser to save the program last week. The Seawolves need to raise $888,000 before February 15, 2021–half in cash, half in pledges. Click here for the latest on the Seawolves’ UAA Gymnastics Fundraising invitational.

3.
UCLA’s Brooklyn Moors redshirting, still pursuing Tokyo 2021

Canadian star and UCLA commit Brooklyn Moors has announced she will redshirt this year at UCLA in light of the pandemic and related restrictions. “After much consideration,” Moors will begin her studies at UCLA online and train from home as she continues to pursue an Olympic team spot.

4.
2020 Artistic Europeans will go on but in a different country

European Gymnastics announced Monday that the rescheduled 2020 Artistic European Championships set for December will go on, albeit with some slight modifications. Read the details here.

5.
Aly Raisman appears on popular Armchair Expert podcast

Aly Raisman is the latest star to appear on Dax Shepard’s popular Armchair Expert podcast. Raisman said of the interview, “I think I was the most vulnerable & honest in this interview. I talked about a few things I’ve never shared publicly before.” Listen to it here.

6.
Olympic hopefuls suffer minor setbacks on the road to Tokyo

Three Olympic hopefuls are dealing with some minor injuries at the moment. Germany’s Sophie Scheder (shoulder) and U.S. stars MyKayla Skinner (Achilles) and Chellsie Memmel (undisclosed ankle/foot) all shared updates on their social pages recently revealing minor injuries that should in no way impact their long-term training but are proving to be minor setbacks.

7.
Defying Gravity episodes 3 & 4 now available

The third and fourth episodes of “Defying Gravity” are now available on Glamour’s YouTube. Watch them here.

8.
Tweets and things

Competition Clips: 2020 Szombathely World Challenge Cup

Dominick Cunningham | Vault

Training clips: Fusuke Maeda’s crazy quad connection, WAG upgrades, and more

This week’s training clips section includes 14 videos that feature Rebeca Andrade (BRA), Marvin Kimble (USA), Tyson Bull (AUS), Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), and many more national and international athletes!