A prominent Blue Springs gym will no longer be able to participate in USA Gymnastics events, after the sport’s governing body terminated its membership for failing to comply with disciplinary action.
Great American Gymnastics Express, more commonly known as GAGE, has produced numerous Olympic and NCAA athletes. It’s now barred from events such as the state or national championships, affecting gymnasts from elementary school all the way through the elite level of competition.
Jill Geer, chief communications and marketing officer for USA Gymnastics, confirmed to KCUR in an email Thursday that GAGE’s membership with the sport’s governing body has been terminated. She noted that the gym is still visible in USA Gymnastics’ database for the time being, as athletes with GAGE can still compete through March 2.
Banning an entire gym is an unusual step by USA Gymnastics and SafeSport, the nonprofit oversight agency that investigates abuse allegations involving sports. Typically, they only suspend or ban individual coaches.
Parents and athletes at GAGE received a letter from USA Gymnastics dated Feb. 25, explaining the gym will no longer be a member of the sport’s governing body after March 2. The letter cites “ongoing allegations of non-compliance with Center for SafeSport suspensions and the SafeSport Code, despite being provided notice and opportunity to comply.”
Several coaches from GAGE have faced disciplinary action from SafeSport in recent months. SafeSport suspended coach Al Fong and his wife, former Soviet gymnast and current coach Armine Barutyan, on Dec. 22, 2025, for “physical and emotional misconduct.”
According to SafeSport’s database, Fong and Barutyan were required to undergo education and not have contact with gymnasts, and were placed on probation.
Two other GAGE coaches have since been suspended by SafeSport: Karla Grimes on Feb. 12, and Tiffany Davenport on Feb. 18.
On Thursday, Jen Weimer, an administrative assistant at GAGE, told a KCUR reporter that the gym had received the letter from USA Gymnastics on Wednesday.
“It’s devastating and heartbreaking” to hundreds of families who have girls who are preparing for state gymnastics meets next month, she said.
The letter from USA Gymnastics said that registrations from GAGE athletes for later meets will be canceled and that they will need to connect with other gyms to register again.
Weimer said that GAGE does a lot more than competitive gymnastics. The center offers recreational classes, has an entertainment center and hosts birthday parties and other parties.
“We are still alive at GAGE. Our doors are not shut,” Weimer said.
It is not immediately clear whether the recent actions by SafeSport and USA Gymnastics stemmed from the recent coaching violations or from older claims.
The deaths of two former U.S. national team gymnasts, Julissa Gomez and Christy Henrich, have been connected to Al Fong’s training methods. Gomez competed in elite gymnastics in the 1980s. Henrich, who was born in Independence, competed in elite gymnastics in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Gomez broke her neck while vaulting at a meet in Japan in 1988, becoming paralyzed from the neck down. She died of an infection related to her catastrophic injuries in 1991 at age 18. Christy Henrich died of complications of anorexia nervosa at Research Medical Center in Kansas City in 1994 at age 22, according to a New York Times obituary.
Still, GAGE continued to attract high-performing gymnasts. Terin Humphrey and Courtney McCool, both coached by Fong at GAGE, competed in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Humphrey won two silver medals there; McCool took one silver.
GAGE gymnasts Leanne Wong and Kara Eaker were alternates on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic team. Wong won the silver medal in the all-around at the 2025 world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, although she was coached by her NCAA coaches at that meet. Other recent GAGE standouts include Ivana Hong, Sarah Finnegan, Aleah Finnegan and Lynnzee Brown.
The deaths of Gomez and Henrich were chronicled in detail by sports journalist Joan Ryan in her 1995 book, “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters.”
Their deaths led to some changes in the sport, such as allowing gymnasts to compete with a u-shaped mat around the springboard on vault.
