SafeSport Finally Suspends Al Fong as Jordan Chiles Dominates NCAA Week One

SafeSport has suspended Al Fong for five years after a nearly six year long investigation, Melanie de Jesus dos Santos confirms her return ''to the gym'', and all the NCAA news to kick off the 2026 season.

HEADLINES

• SafeSport has suspended Al Fong for five years after a nearly six year long investigation
  • Armine was also suspended for one year after acting as the head coach of the Junior Worlds squad
  • Both coaches were suspended for emotional and physical misconduct
  • Listen to our interviews with Ivana Hong, Terin Humphrey, and Sarah Shire Brown, who talk about their time at GAGE under coach Al Fong
• Melanie de Jesus dos Santos confirms her return ''to the gym'' according to her Instagram

GYMTERNET NEWS

• More discontent brewing in France: 15-year-old Elena Colas, the junior world all-around silver medalist, declined a call-up to a French national team training camp in Martinique
• SafeSport Continues to Fail
  • The AP finds SafeSport failed to finalize a lifetime ban against coach Sean Gardner despite abuse allegations
• Romanian Infighting
  • An audio recording reveals Camelia Voinea urging supporters to attack coach Corina Moroșan, exposing a deep internal power struggle over how the gymnastics should be run in Romania
• OC Coach Arrested
  • 25-year-old Jacob Alexander Demmin was arrested following an investigation into an alleged relationship with a girl under the age of 18 at Firestorm Freerunning.
• Ellie Freakin' Black finally getting the recognition she deserves
  • Ellie Black was named to Order of Canada: the second-highest honor for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada

NCAA

• The 2026 college season has begun!
  • Is competing in the first week of the season a good idea? bad idea? The WORST idea?
  • Jordan Chiles went 39.725 in week 1, leading the nation in the all-around standings, thoughts?
  • UCLA is ranked no. 1 with a 196.975
    • How does UCLA's freshmen class fit into this picture?
  • Missouri went 196.850, counting a fall on beam!
  • Corrupt or Correct: Utah's scores, as covered on college and cocktails this week
  • Clemson breaking into the 196s after the first meet is a win
    • A triumph for vault variety! The first four vaults in Clemson's lineups were different
  • Cal broke into the 196s, an important result for the team to show they aren't dead
• Leaps spotlight
  • Paulina Vargas, sophomore at Oregon State, proving to us that nobody really cares if you only do a two-pass floor routine as long as your leaps look as good as hers
• Spotlight: The Show
  • Nina Ballou at LSU's exhibition SOLD her dance through, bringing like 15 different celebrations during the intros
• Is it time to be worried?
  • Iowa State's 191.325 is their lowest score since 1999

RELATED EPISODES

• Paris World Cup with Laura Cappelle
• Jakarta Worlds Debrief: The Romanian Drama Explained With Coaches Daymon Jones & Patrick Kiens
• 60: Terin Humphrey
• 26: Ivana Hong
• 358: Regionals Preview, Shire Brown, Olivera, Ruddock

UP NEXT

• College & Cocktails: Saturday, Jan 10, 3pm Pacific, following Sprouts Quad session 1 (Oklahoma, UCLA, Utah, LSU)
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