157: The 2015 Secret Classic

Published: July 29, 2015, 5:20 a.m.

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2015 junior Secret Classic Champion, Laurie "Baby Shakira" Hernandez. Photo \xa9 Christy Linder.

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This week on the podcast, a full recap of the Secret U.S. Classic from glorious\xa0Chicago suburbs.\xa0\xa0Uncle Tim, Lauren, and Jessica chat about the best upgrades, moments, skills and routines, including:

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  • Scoring: don't get too excited, there was a stick bonus in place.
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  • Text book bars that made our hearts sing: \xa0Madison Kocian, Brenna Dowell and Laurie "Baby Shakira" Hernandez.
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  • Injuries that took some out and others down:\xa0\xa0Norah Flatly, Marissa Okaely and Kyla Ross.
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  • Which 2000 Babies (also known as juniors who will turn 16 in the Olympic year) will be a major threat for the 2016 Olympic team. Yes, this means we talked all about Ragan "Fievel" Smith.
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  • Ashton Locklear and the Mystery of the Zero Scores\xa0solved!
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  • Bailie Key's premier meet as a senior gymnast! Finally!
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  • Brenna Dowell had a rough day with a terrifying beam fall, but we loved her\xa0toe-on tkatchev caught in mixed grip to\xa0Ezhova! Will this help or hurt her chances of making the World team?
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  • Let\u2019s play a game called \u201cWhat did Skinner\u2019s floor music sound like to you?\u201d
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  • Simone Bile's new floor routine (spoiler alert, we loved it!);\xa0will Laurie Hernandez and Simone start a new trend in elite floor?
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  • What's next for Emily Gaskins and Steve Nunno. Maybe he was too calm and that's what hurt her performance.
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  • Gabby Douglas,\xa0her competitive excellence, Russian-style podium training, future upgrades and clarifying gymnastics facts for those you didn't know that she meant American Olympic history when she said,"No one has ever done it before."
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  • Aly Raisman looked gutted after her mistiming on floor led to a fall, but we saw big improvements from her.
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  • Our favorite moments: Abby Paulson's aerial layout series on beam; Trinity Thomas being adopted by Lauren; Maggie Nichols owning the podium; Polina Shchennikova's bars; Simone and her team flying on a private jet; Kaitlin deGuzman's toe point; Deanne Soza, Deanne Soza and DEANNE SOZA!
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  • Uncle Tim rages out over Felicia Hano's vault injury.
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Our weekly roundup of the latest news stories from around the gymternet include:

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  • Marta's retirement announcement and our speculation about\xa0her replacement.
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  • Shawn Johnson got engaged to NFL player Andrew East on a baseball field, but we tell you how we could have proposed to her in a much more gymnastics-appropriate way.
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  • The\xa0Canadian pop star who is named after Nelli Kim
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  • USA Gymnastics President, Steve Penny, awkwardly interviewing Simone Biles.
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  • We got a letter from a listener who told us all about training\xa0with\xa0Steve Penny and Peggy Liddick during the Shannon Miller era at Dynamo in Oklahoma!
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The Gymternet's best moments from podium training, complete with Gifs! Two women have repeated as the Olympic all-around champion in back to back Olympic Games,\xa0Larisa Latynina of Soviet Union in 1956 and 1960, and Vera Caslavaka of Czechoslovakia in 64 and 68.\xa0No American all-around gold medalist (we\u2019ve only had four ever!), has ever made a second Olympic team; only one has even officlally tried, Nastia Liukin, by competing at the Olympic Trials. It's pretty common to make another Olympic team. Four\xa0Olympic all-around gold medalists have made a second\xa0Olympic team after winning all-around good: Larisa Latynina, V\u011bra \u010c\xe1slavsk\xe1,\xa0Ludmilla Tourischeva, and\xa0Nadia Com\u0103neci.

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Texas Dreams' wore a leo that was clearly an ode to the 1990's Unified Team / Soviet splatter paint leotards.

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