Death of Julissa Gomez In May 1988,
Julissa Gomez broke her neck while warming up for the vault at a competition in Japan. Observers had noticed her struggle with the apparatus over the months leading up to the competition, including her former coach Béla Károlyi, past and present teammates, and even her own coach, Al Fong. Gomez's technique on the extremely difficult
Yurchenko vault had been described as shaky at best, and Gomez was unable to perform the vault with consistency during practices, sometimes missing her feet on the springboard. A teammate from Károlyi's,
Chelle Stack, later said, "You could tell it was not a safe vault for her to be doing. Someone along the way should have stopped her." She weighed 47 pounds when she died. Her death led to changes in the way coaches across the nation implement nutrition in training, and how television and media discuss gymnasts' bodies.
U.S. Center for SafeSport suspensions In 2020, Fong became the subject of a
U.S. Center for SafeSport investigation into about 40 allegations of emotional, verbal, and physical abuse. In February 2026,
USA Gymnastics suspended the woman appointed by the Fongs to run the gym in their absence; days later, her replacement was similarly suspended, and the organization terminated the gym's membership over allegations of abuse and non-compliance with safety codes and suspensions. ==References==