SafeSport has suspended Al Fong for five years after a nearly six year long investigation, Melanie de Jesus dos Santos confirms her return ''to the gym'', and all the NCAA news to kick off the 2026 season.

HEADLINES

• SafeSport has suspended Al Fong for five years after a nearly six year long investigation
  • Armine was also suspended for one year after acting as the head coach of the Junior Worlds squad
  • Both coaches were suspended for emotional and physical misconduct
  • Listen to our interviews with Ivana Hong, Terin Humphrey, and Sarah Shire Brown, who talk about their time at GAGE under coach Al Fong
•  Melanie de Jesus dos Santos confirms her return ''to the gym'' according to her Instagram

GYMTERNET NEWS

• More discontent brewing in France: 15-year-old Elena Colas, the junior world all-around silver medalist, declined a call-up to a French national team training camp in Martinique
• SafeSport Continues to Fail
  • The AP finds SafeSport failed to finalize a lifetime ban against coach Sean Gardner despite abuse allegations
• Romanian Infighting
  • An audio recording reveals Camelia Voinea urging supporters to attack coach Corina Moroșan, exposing a deep internal power struggle over how the gymnastics should be run in Romania
• OC Coach Arrested
  • 25-year-old Jacob Alexander Demmin was arrested following an investigation into an alleged relationship with a girl under the age of 18 at Firestorm Freerunning.
• Ellie Freakin' Black finally getting the recognition she deserves
  • Ellie Black was named to Order of Canada: the second-highest honor for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada

NCAA

• The 2026 college season has begun!
  • Is competing in the first week of the season a good idea? bad idea? The WORST idea?
  • Jordan Chiles went 39.725 in week 1, leading the nation in the all-around standings, thoughts?
  • UCLA is ranked no. 1 with a 196.975
    • How does UCLA's freshmen class fit into this picture?
  • Missouri went 196.850, counting a fall on beam!
  • Corrupt or Correct: Utah's scores, as covered on college and cocktails this week
  • Clemson breaking into the 196s after the first meet is a win
    • A triumph for vault variety! The first four vaults in Clemson's lineups were different
  • Cal broke into the 196s, an important result for the team to show they aren't dead
• Leaps spotlight
  • Paulina Vargas, sophomore at Oregon State, proving to us that nobody really cares if you only do a two-pass floor routine as long as your leaps look as good as hers
• Spotlight: The Show
  • Nina Ballou at LSU's exhibition SOLD her dance through, bringing like 15 different celebrations during the intros
• Is it time to be worried?
  • Iowa State's 191.325 is their lowest score since 1999

RELATED EPISODES

• Paris World Cup with Laura Cappelle
• Jakarta Worlds Debrief: The Romanian Drama Explained With Coaches Daymon Jones & Patrick Kiens
• 60: Terin Humphrey
• 26: Ivana Hong
• 358: Regionals Preview, Shire Brown, Olivera, Ruddock

UP NEXT

• College & Cocktails: Saturday, Jan 10, 3pm Pacific, following Sprouts Quad session 1 (Oklahoma, UCLA, Utah, LSU)
• Add exclusive Club Content like College & Cocktails to your favorite podcast player (instructions here).

SUPPORT OUR WORK 

• Join Club Gym Nerd (or give it as a gift!) for access to weekly Behind the Scenes episodes.
• Club Gym Nerd members can watch the podcast being recorded and get access to all of our exclusive extended interviews, Behind The Scenes and College & Cocktails.
• Not sure about joining the club?  College & Cocktails: The Friday Night NCAA Gymnastics Post-Meet Show is available to sample (even if you aren't a Club Gym Nerd member yet). Watch or listen here.
• Buy a Ticket to the Live Show with Cecile Landi and Levi
  • WATCH REPLAY HERE : Buy a ticket now or buy it as a gift! If you purchased a ticket to the live show with Cecile Landi and Levi Jung-Ruivivar benefitting The National Eating Disorder Foundation you can still watch the replay.  Watch highlights before you buy here.
  • 2026 LIVE SHOW SEASON PASSES ARE NOW AVAILABLE
    That's 4 live show passes for the price of 3! Season passes will be available up until the week of the first show. Buy a 2026 season pass here.

MERCH

• GymCastic Store: clothing and gifts to let your gym nerd flag fly and even "tapestries" (banners, the perfect to display in an arena) to support your favorite gymnast!
  • Baseball hats available now in the GymCastic store

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

• Huel Daily Greens Ready to Drink – Get 20% off your purchase for New Customers with our exclusive code GYMCASTIC20 at https://huel.com/GYMCASTIC. Use our code and fill out the post checkout survey to help support the show!

• Thank you to our Sponsor: "Broken to Unbreakable" by Lori Vollkommer available on Amazon or wherever you buy your books

NEWSLETTERS

• Sign up for all three GymCastic newsletters 

FANTASY GAME:

• GymCastic 2026 College Fantasy Game now open. Never too late to join!

RESOURCES

• Spencer's essential website The Balance Beam Situation 
• Gymnastics History and Code of Points Archive from Uncle Tim

RESISTANCE  Submitted by our listeners.

• ACTION
  • Indivisible
    • Practical ideas about what you can actually do in this moment, check it out: indivisi.org/muskorus
  • 5Calls App will call your Congresspeople by issue with a script to guide you
    • • Make 2 to your Congressional rep (local and DC office). 2 each to your US Senators (local and state offices)
        • State your name and zip code or district
        • Be concise with your question or demand (i.e. What specific steps is Senator X taking to stop XYZ)
        • Wait for answer
        • Ask for action items -  tell them what you want them to do (i.e. draft articles of impeachment immediately, I want to see you holding a press conference in front of...etc.)
  • ResistBot
    • Turns your texts into faxes, postal mail, or emails to your representatives in minutes
• LAWSUITS
  • Donate to organizations suing the administration for illegal actions
    • ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Northwest Immigration Law Project
• STAY INFORMED
  • Suggested podcasts:  Amicus, Daily Beans, Pod Save America, Strict Scrutiny
• Immigrant Rights
  • Know Your Rights Red Cards, We Have Rights Video, Your Rights on trains and buses video