Is gymnastics a sport, or is it entertainment? Can it be both? — Checking in on UCLA

Gymnastics is a niche sport that is also one of the most-watched sports at the Olympic Games. Sometimes people are surprised to hear that the NCAA has gymnastics, yet there are teams whose fans fill huge sports arenas on a weekly basis.

And, the debate over NCAA scoring this season has forced the question: Is gymnastics a sport, or is it entertainment? If it’s the latter, why do we keep score? But if it’s the former, why do we oppose tighter judging and scoring?  

Rebecca Scally over at College Gym News said this better than me in her “Questions, Comments, Concerns” column last week. Scally wrote: “…the biggest threat to gymnastics’ credibility as a real sport is that a critical mass of people on the inside actually and seriously do not want it to be one.” 

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Scally’s comment is currently also being dissected in a thread on the gymnastics subreddit. 

I haven’t really touched on Livvy Dunne’s recent post on X about NCAA gymnastics losing fans over the lack of perfect 10s awarded this season here. Honestly, I was surprised her comments got the play they did, but I am guilty of regularly underestimating the size and reach of her fanbase outside of the sport.

Dvora Meyers picked up the story for The Guardian and did a great analysis, per usual. Meyers notes that while the popularity of college gymnastics seems to be on an upswing right now, the upcoming House v. NCAA settlement, which will bring revenue sharing to college sports, could highlight for athletic departments gymnastics’ status as a non-revenue sport on campus. As scores drop, so, too, might fans’ attention, goes the thinking (or, at least, Dunne’s thinking); if the sport stops bringing in fans and their money that way, colleges and universities might look to cut it. 

Scally argues that loose scoring damages the integrity of the sport, and I agree with her. But there are plenty of people, including people with significant power in college gymnastics — like Dunne, and like her LSU coach, Jay Clark, who has also voiced his displeasure with the scoring crackdowns this season — who think the sport’s future rests on its entertainment value for the average fan, not the wonks. 

Gymnastics is at a crossroads. Let’s do what we can to make sure that the institutions that support gymnastics know that we will support the integrity of the sport and its sparkle. 

Somewhat related to the unexpected popularity of Olympic sports among the mainstream audience: Track star and Olympic gold medalist sprinter Gabby Thomas posted on TikTok this week about being stalked at the airport by several men who were threatening her after she refused to sign photos of herself. The most frightening part, she shared, was that the men appeared to have her flight information because they showed up at her gate — also indicating that they made it past security somehow. (Thomas later posted video of the men’s faces and later revealed that her team had identified two of her alleged stalkers and that she was able to file a police report with that information.)

In Thomas’ comments on her original video were Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Dunne — all saying that the same thing has happened to them. Really scary stuff, and something I hope airports will take seriously as it seems like the leaking of flight info (at least, per Thomas’ information) is coming from inside the house. 

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Other gym news

Balance Beam Situation has your NCAA schedule and links, and, of course, the GIFs.

College Gym News has, of course, the leotard rankings. They’ve also got a judge’s breakdown of January’s perfect 10s and a feature on Victoria Nguyen’s rejuvenated career following her transfer from Georgia to Florida. 

Sacramento State University announced this week that former head coach Randy Solorio has died.    

Skye Blakely spoke to Scott Bregman at The Olympic Channel about taking a return to elite gymnastics slowly.

Trinity Thomas will make her NCAA commentary debut this week. 

Five at The IX: Jordan Chiles, Chae Campbell and Brooklyn Moors

The trio of floor superstars for UCLA, each of whom received at least one 10 from the judges at last week’s squeaker win against Michigan State, spoke with the media following their victory. 

Moors is currently ranked number one in the country on floor.