The Blog

Read the long way

The conversations from the podcast, written down and taken further, plus the pieces that need more room than an episode allows.

Read a seriesRio 2016

Episode 01 · Atlanta 1996

Amanda Borden on the Magnificent Seven at 30: "We're More Magnificent Women Now"

The captain of the first U.S. women's team to win Olympic gold looked back on Atlanta: the vote she did not cast for herself, the body she had to learn on her own, and the thing that lasted longer than the medal.

August 6, 2026 · Gymnastics · Olympic history · Episode 01

For Parents & Coaches · Training

Positive Coaching in Gymnastics: What Amanda Borden's Gym Sounds Like on a Tuesday

Twenty-two years of running her own program taught the Olympic captain that hard work and joy were never the trade-off everyone assumed. Here is how she builds it, and what it looks like from the viewing window.

August 6, 2026 · Coaching · Gymnastics · Return to sport

For Parents & Coaches · Training

Goal Setting for Young Athletes: What Amanda Borden Teaches in Empower Hour

The Olympic captain noticed her gymnasts could name a dream and not a next step. The fix she built turned out to have the same shape as a rehab protocol.

August 6, 2026 · Coaching · Youth sports · Return to sport

Explainer · Tokyo 2021

The Twisties: The Physiology Behind What Simone Biles Faced

The anatomy, the physics, and the human being: an explanation of the condition that stopped the greatest gymnast of all time mid-air at the Tokyo Olympics.

June 13, 2026 · Mental health · Gymnastics · Explainer

Rio 2016

Reflections on Monday, and the Last Day of Artistic

Almost twenty years of wanting to be at an Olympics, and five days left of it. What it took to get here, and what it feels like to be nearly finished.

August 16, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Day Two of Event Finals

Simone Biles above the entire field on vault, and Alex Naddour taking the first American men's individual medal in 32 years. Why finals run one event at a time.

August 15, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

The Days Off, the Women's All-Around, and More

The women's all-around, what athletes actually do with a day off at an Olympics, and what an Olympic medal is made of. Plus the people they thank.

August 13, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

US Men's All-Around, and a Preview of the Women's

One of the best competitions she has ever watched: Kohei Uchimura against Oleg Verniaiev, and the tenths that left Sam Mikulak just outside a medal.

August 11, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Reflections on the US Women's World Dominance

Simone Biles proved she is unbreakable but not unbendable. A physical therapist reads the hip turnout on bars and the low chest that produced the wobble on beam.

August 10, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Men's Team Finals

Finals week begins. What live scoring has done to the job of reporting from a Games, and what the men's team final looked like from the floor of the arena.

August 9, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Two Per Country: A Bronze Is Just Not a Bronze Anymore

Why the United States could not have swept an Olympic all-around podium even with the three best gymnasts in the world, and what that rule does to a lineup.

August 8, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Day 6: Women's Qualification Day

Five subdivisions of women qualifying for three different finals, thirteen hours in the arena, and a late escape to the swimming with John Roethlisberger.

August 8, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Day 5: Men's Qualification

Men's qualification, and how a gymnast actually reaches a final: team, all-around, and event, three different routes decided on the same night.

August 7, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Reflections on Day 4: Opening Ceremonies

The world comes together for one night and the American gymnasts mostly watch it on television. Why artistic gymnastics starts before the ceremony has finished.

August 6, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Day 3: Women's Podium Training

Women's podium training a day out from the Opening Ceremonies: Oksana Chusovitina at her seventh Games, a Chinese team not looking like itself, and a detour to the diving.

August 4, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Day 2: Settling In

Men's podium training, two hours in the credentialing queue, and traffic that beggars belief. First impressions of Rio, and of Brazilians who could not be nicer.

August 2, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics

Rio 2016

Rio 2016: A Dream Come True

Leaving for a first Olympic Games wearing two hats at once: writing for Inside Gymnastics, and treating whoever needs it. The suitcase is mostly medical.

August 1, 2016 · Rio 2016 · Olympics · Gymnastics