GAGE coaches Al Fong and Armine Barutyan suspended by SafeSport (Pending appeal) 2/26/26: USAG terminates GAGE membership

[IratePanda]

Sorry and thanks for the correction. She sat out everything but UB in 2006, though, correct? That was the year she had the bad ankle injury, if I’m not mistaken.
I remember watching 2007 nationals and they were saying how Nastia had very little training time leading up to it due to her injury, I think, so I should have doublechecked.

Yes, she had a severe ankle injury at 2006 Worlds and only competed UB. She underwent surgery shortly afterwards.

 

[QuietColours]

Valeri seemed popular as the developmental coordinator. I remember seeing some suggestions that he worked better managing the group of athletes then being intensely focused on one person. It's a bit hard to tell how Nastia was different--he saw everything that was going on with her; could manage every aspect of training, rest, and rehab; wasn't working with any crazy parents (everyone remember the stories about Mr. Bross) besides himself and his wife; and the emotional investment and approach had to different.