Coach Thierry Pellerin sentenced to 5 years

Former (Canadian) Olympic hopeful Thierry Pellerin was sentenced to five years in prison for luring young boys who were under his responsibility to the gymnastics club where he was a coach, in addition to filming them in the locker room toilets.

Journal de Quebec

He will be in the sex offender register for the next 20 years and will not be able to be in a park, school grounds or other place where it is reasonable to expect the presence of children.

teaching kids about UNSAFE touching

Parents of recreation gymnast needed to be educated about “spotting“, of course.

Grand Paris Express Métro

Paris already has one of the biggest and busiest subway networks in the world.

Simultaneous with Olympics 2024 construction, over 200km more are being built. 68 brand-new stations. The plan is to travel around the city, rather than crossing the congested centre.

It’s called the Grand Paris Express.

Of course there will be an economic boost everywhere easily accessible by the 4 new lines.

Hopefully, Paris will be one Olympic host where the legacy benefits outweighs the incredible cost for a … circus.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Mark Robinson v Simone Biles

North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has been called “the GOP’s next top lunatic”.

Sure he’s homophobic, anti-semitic, an election denier, anti-science, anti-woman — BUT what made Gymnastics fans mad was when he dissed the greatest gymnast of all time.

Something tells me candidate Mark Robinson never did Gymnastics. 😀

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Aly on CBC Mornings

Promoting her new book.

USAG bungles Gabby petition

There should be criteria for WHO can be invited to U.S. National Team Camps.

If you don’t meet criteria, you MIGHT not have a petition accepted.

However — USAG did not have that criteria posted soon enough. In light of that oversight, had I a vote, 2012 Olympic champion Gabby Douglas would have been invited.

Even if there is no ill intent towards Gabby, it LOOKS BAD for an organization that is still trying to improve their reputation for fairness from the many, many wrong decisions of the past.

Listen to the specifics of this issue on the GymCastic PODCAST episode posted April 1, 2024.

NCAA student body diversity

In a perfect world, the ethnic background of your organization would reflect your geographical region.

ALL citizens would have equal access to higher education.

UCLA is often praised for being a Gymnastics team that celebrates diversity.

But Cal has an even more diverse student body.

Auburn and Clemson are two schools not very diverse. There could be multiple reason for that, of course.

This data from the most recent fiscal year disclosures made by schools to the U.S. Dept. of Education.

Iowa is being investigated

Iowa hires investigator to look into women’s gymnastics team culture.

Head coach Larissa Libby has been placed on paid administrative leave, not as a disciplinary measure but to protect the integrity of the review, the school said in a statement.

Gabby not invited to April Camp

Perhaps USAG is sticking to the rules.

BUT if I’d had a petition to add a former Olympic Champion, I’d vote YES.