Back to Basics EP 238 | 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships Preview with Sean Townsend

World Champion Sean Townsend joins GymnasticsVille Host Mubarak Simmons to preview the 2026 U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Townsend won a World title on parallel bars in 2001, the first American man on a Worlds podium in 22 years, and trained alongside Mubarak at Houston Gymnastics Academy under coach Kevin Mazeika. Today he's the head coach there, with two of his own athletes competing in Phoenix this week. With Asher Hong, Brody Malone, and Donnell Whittenburg all out of the field, Townsend breaks down why he thinks Malone is playing the long game, names his five-man pick for the World team in Rotterdam, and explains why he believes the 2032 Olympic team could be the best in U.S. history. He also shares the untold story of competing at the 2001 World Championships in the weeks after 9/11, when his team was told they weren't going, then found out two weeks later that they were. This is the second of two GymnasticsVille previews ahead of Phoenix. Listen to the first, with Highland Park ISD Gymnastics Coach Justin James, wherever you get your podcasts. Read the full article: https://gymnasticsville.com/sean-townsend-2026-us-championships-preview/  Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gymnasticsville-podcast/id1236969576  Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3EZvLhd543Iw0YlwlkhBds?si=kURxLtagT2S98aqLTYOQkA&utm_source=sms  Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwVx7oVvYug  Follow GymnasticsVille: Instagram | TikTok @gymnasticsvillehq | X (GCTM)