The craziest week of the NCAA gymnastics offseason so far | Gymnastics Weekly Report (May 5)

We are less than three weeks into the NCAA gymnastics offseason, and things seem to have reached a peak – possibly the highest peak in the sport’s history. Add in non-NCAA news, and we have a lot to catch up on. Here’s your Gymnastics Weekly Report for May 5.

Results That Mattered

The first continental championships happened last weekend, as the 2026 African Championships were held April 23-26 in Cameroon.

The continental championship meets (African, Oceania, Pan American, Asian, European) are particularly important this year as they serve as key qualifying meets for the 2026 World Championships, which are set for October 17-25 at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The Egyptian men and Algerian women topped their respective medal tables and, as the team champions, each qualified five-person squads to Worlds.

Egypt was expected for the men – the country has been a dominant force in African gymnastics in recent years– but the Algerian women are a team on the rise, especially with the addition of Djenna Laroui, who recently switched nationalities from France to Algeria. They’ll be ones to watch in the coming years, with Kaylia Nemour now backed by a budding roster.

Nemour won all of the women’s individual titles (all-around, bars, beam, floor) except for vault, which went to Laroui.

On the men’s side, Egypt’s Omar Mohamed won the all-around, rings, parallel bars, and high bar. Daniel McLean (South Africa) won floor, Mohamed Afify (Egypt) won pommel horse, and Hamza Hossaini (Morocco) won vault.

The following individuals qualified from African championships to Worlds based on all-around results:

Emerging Storylines

• Romanian and Stanford gymnast Ana Barbosu could potentially be suspended due to too many drug testing whereabouts failures (the same reason Yul Moldauer was suspended last year). This case has been developing over the past few months, and the Romanian Gymnastics Federation commented on it last Tuesday, saying Barbosu is not currently suspended but there is an ongoing investigation and the case has not been resolved.
• USA Gymnastics announced its men’s team for the Pan American championships over the weekend, with Kameron Nelson, Riley Loos, Yul Moldauer, Taylor Burkhart, and Patrick Hoopes comprising the team.
• Jade Carey is back. The two-time Olympic gold medalist announced her return to elite gymnastics on April 25. It’s not clear when her comeback meet will be, but the 2026 U.S. Championships will be held in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona in August. She would have to qualify to that meet.

Progress Report

Transfer to Watch: Joscelyn Roberson

At the center of the crazy NCAA gymnastics news cycle last week was Arkansas. First, Joscelyn Roberson announced she was entering the transfer portal. As of publishing, Roberson hasn’t committed anywhere and has only visited Florida. We suspect she’ll visit more schools this week (here are our guesses) before making a decision, but we have to put the “as of publishing” disclaimer because news is moving FAST right now.

Coaching Change to Watch: Arkansas

The other major Arkansas news, and what probably – at least partially – led to Roberson’s transfer, is Jordyn Wieber has stepped down as head coach of the Razorbacks, and her husband, Chris Brooks, is the new head coach. Wieber said she is focusing on her family (her and Brooks share nearly 1-year-old Gigi) and pursuing new passions.

Coaching Carousel and Recruiting Highlights

To keep up with recruiting and the transfer and coaching carousels this offseason is a full-time job. Here are the recent highlights:

Coaching Carousel

• BYU has promoted associate head coach Natalie Broekman to head coach.
• Georgia has hired Brenna Brooks as its second assistant coach under Cecile Canqueteau-Landi. She joins Megan Haught. The GymDogs have one more assistant coaching spot open.
• Auburn’s Ryan Roberts has completed his coaching staff for the upcoming season, with Aja Sims-Fletcher coming on as associate head coach and Adam Duncan and Sophia Davila being hired as assistant coaches.

Recruiting and Transfer Carousel

• Auburn has lost five commits across the 2026 and 2027 classes since the school and former head coach Jeff Graba parted ways last month. New head coach Ryan Roberts has been unable to stop the bleeding. With only one commit remaining for each of the upcoming classes, the Tigers will need to make some moves in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail. Roberts said that would be a focus in his introductory press conference last week.
  • Here’s a list of athletes formerly committed to Auburn and where they’re going instead:
    • Audrey Snyder (’26)- Clemson
    • Ella Fine (’26) – Florida
    • Giselle Guenther (’26) – Arkansas
    • Elizaveta Grebenkova (’27) – Alabama
    • Brooke Reingold (’27) – Georgia
• Ariel Posen (Georgia) and Jordyn Lyden (Minnesota) are transferring to LSU.
• Cal’s Ondine Achampong and Mya Wiley are both transferring to Stanford.
• Noelle Adams (Iowa State) is transferring to Arkansas.
• Ava Piedrahita (Penn State) is transferring to Clemson.

Off the Floor

• Both the U.S. men’s and women’s programs recently discussed not attending the 2026 Youth Olympic Games due to unfavorable conditions that put into question the safety and well-being of athletes. Other U.S. sport national governing bodies have opted to not send their athletes to Dakar, Senegal, which will host the Games from October 31 – November 13. The Games will feature four gymnastics disciplines: artistic, rhythmic, trampoline, and acrobatic.
• Both the 2027 and 2028 SEC Gymnastics Championships will be held at Benchmark Arena in Tampa, Florida. The last time the SEC championships were held in Florida was 2017, when LSU won at Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. Since then, the meet has typically been held in Alabama or Louisiana (five out of eight times), except for Oklahoma in 2026, Georgia in 2023, and Missouri in 2018. The last time SECs was held in the same spot for multiple years in a row was 2004 and 2005, when the Gwinnett Center played host both years.
• Laurie Hernandez is thriving in her Broadway debut run in “& Juliet.” She is played a featured dance role as Charmion and is thriving. “It definitely feels like the right next act,” Hernandez told Olympics.com. “This makes a lot of sense for me. I knew I wanted to do acting and entertainment even while I was still in gymnastics, and I had talked with my parents about it.” The 25-year-old graduates from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts this month.

Records & Milestones

• The USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame Class of 2026 has been announced. The following list is via USAG:
  • Logan Dooley – 2016 Olympian, eight-time World Championships team member, seven-time U.S. synchronized trampoline champion
  • Kara Eaker – Two-time World team champion, three-time Pan American Games medalist, two-time U.S. balance beam silver medalist
  • Camilla Feeley – 2020 Olympian, four-time World Championships team member, four-time 2019 Pan American Games medalist, 17-time U.S. medalist
  • Tim Klempnauer – Dedicated lifetime to the sport to gymnastics as an athlete, coach and contributor
  • Courtney McCool Griffeth – Two-time 2003 Pan American Games medalist, two-time U.S. medalist
  • Maren Merwarth and Jessica Renteria – 2016 World Championships team members, two-time U.S. senior all-around champions, three-time World Cup all-around medalists
• Florida associate head coach and general manager Owen Field shared that 95 athletes were in the transfer portal as of April 29. That’s the second most entrants by year all-time, following 2023-24. The portal will remain open for general entry through May 13.
• The finalists for the 2026 Honda Sport Award for Gymnastics are Jordan Chiles (UCLA), Faith Torrez (Oklahoma), Kailin Chio (LSU), and Anna Roberts (Stanford). Chio, a sophomore, is the only non-senior finalist. The finalists were selected by a panel of experts and coaches from the WCGA. The winner will be a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the Class of 2026 Honda Cup, which will be presented on July 27.

Trending Now

Rotterdam 2026 – the host of the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships – recently released the official song for the meet. “That Bridge We Built Today” is performed by Evie van der Heijden – a pop singer-songwriter from the Netherlands.

“Building Bridges” is the slogan for the world championships. Bridges are crucial infrastructure for Rotterdam, connecting the city’s northern and southern banks and serving as iconic landmarks of the city.

What’s Next in Gymnastics

• May 7-10: Varna World Challenge Cup
  • First stop of the 2026 FIG World Challenge Cup series
• May 8-9: Oceania Championships
  • Second of the five continental championships

Watch: Top Gymnastics Moment of the Week

Fred Richard graduated from Michigan over the weekend, and of course, he crossed the stage in signature Fred fashion.