FIG seems to have improved their appeals process due to this fiasco.
Sabrina Voinea had the 3rd best routine — but her mother / incompetent coach didn’t submit the appeal properly. I don’t see any scenario where Sabrina ends up with an official Bronze medal in the historical record.
Heather Parker, entering her second season as a gymnast at Central Michigan after transferring from Georgia, posted an important article on College Gym News:
College gymnastics can project an image of perfection–skills look effortless, and the athletes finish successful routines with glowing smiles. Teams broadcast the wins, celebrations, recruits, and rankings on social media.
Less often discussed is what goes into making a team successful and what happens behind the scenes to make those exciting competitions happen.
Jason Vonk, a former assistant coach at George Washington, Yale, and Georgia, had 12 years of experience across the three universities when he moved on from college coaching.
According to Vonk, a lot of what defined his time in college gymnastics wasn’t reflected in the polished version of the sport that fans and recruits see. For him, it was a system marked by fear, silence, and a culture where, as he puts it, “head coaches get complete leeway, and the assistants can’t report them, or they will lose their job.” …
The issue is not that college gymnastics markets itself as joyful, unified, and aspirational. Those moments are genuine, earned, and meaningful. The problem arises when success is treated as proof that everything behind the scenes must therefore be healthy. https://t.co/WdGjTPP3hfpic.twitter.com/JlRlqd5h1i
When first seeing the letter I assumed it was fake. And it was.
The Trump incompetents released the letter on December 22nd.
Next day the FBI pointed out the obvious. It’s a fake that never should have been circulated.
The FBI has confirmed this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is FAKE. The fake letter was received by the jail, and flagged for the FBI at the time. The FBI made this conclusion based on the following facts:
Fong and Barutyan’s suspensions are active and enforceable as of the date of issuance: December 22, 2025. They retain the right to appeal the sanctions, which could result in the suspensions being upheld, modified, reduced, or otherwise altered.
The U.S. Center for SafeSport has issued suspensions to GAGE coaches Al Fong (5 years) and Armine Barutyan (1 year), both pending appeal, for physical and emotional misconduct. pic.twitter.com/620U0wQg6J
Skate Canada says it will no longer host major events in Alberta following a review of the province’s legislation on the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sport. …
Opponents of the bill (including me) say it’s more about stigmatizing and punishing those in the transgender community, and using them as a political football to advance the UCP’s agenda while appealing to a conservative voter base. …
The current Alberta government is right leaning. This legislation is simply pandering to a base that hates minorities.
I feel sports organizations should decide eligibility, not politicians.
IF Skate Canada bans transgender athletes, I’d be OK with that. IF they allow transgender athletes under some kind of criteria, I’d be happy with that, as well.
When Hofmann died of COVID-19 in April 2020, the international gymnastics community remembered him as an innovator and mentor.
The tributes focused on his technical knowledge shared generously, on a coach “always willing and eager” to help programs worldwide.
None mentioned “The Rose.” None referenced the Stasi files or the pharmaceutical protocols. …
I attended a number of Hofmann’s coaching courses.
He was a coaches coach. Very good at planning. A proven winner. His team won no fewer than 52 medals at Olympic Games, World and European Championships.
I have no doubt that his main passion was beating the USSR.
BUT in that era of the DDR, you cooperated with the Stasi (secret police) or lost your job.
In that era of the DDR, if higher-ups told you to test new drugs on gymnasts, you did it.
I knew very little about all these new revelations — aside from the drugs he told us about at one coaching course. Some kind of steroids. They tried them on junior male gymnasts ultimately deciding that the benefits weren’t worth the risk.
Uncle Tim put together a career retrospective on Dieter Hoffman. So far as I can verify with contemporaries, it’s very accurate. Uncle Tim is a terrific researcher.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 