In 1983, Eileen Langsley became the official photographer of the international gymnastics federation and held that position for nearly two decades. Eileen has photographed fourteen Olympic Games throughout her career and specialised in artistic gymnastics, figure skating and women's sport. In 2010 she was given the award of merit by the international hall of fame for services to the sport of gymnastics. Eileen's incredible career began in the world of education as a PE teacher and her journey into the world of sports photography was driven by a passion to showcase women's sport during a time period when the profession was dominated by men. She has photographed the very best athletes in the sport of artistic gymnastics including the great Soviet Union teams of the 1980's and more recently the legendary Kohei Uchimura. And this is her story. 

In 2025, Abigail Martin won the World gymnastics championships bronze medal on the floor exercise for Great Britain in the sport of women artistic gymnastics. At the age of just sixteen Abi was selected to represent Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games where she was part of the artistic gymnastics team that finished 4th in the women's team final. This followed a European team silver earlier that spring, where Abi made her international senior major championships debut finishing 7th individually in the floor exercise final. Abigail Martin's incredibly successful transition into senior gymnastics culminated in her remarkable 8th place finish at the World gymnastics championships in the all around final at just seventeen. And this is her story. 

In 2025, Crystelle Lake represented Great Britain at the World University Games in the sport of women's artistic gymnastics finishing 9th place in the all around final. Crystelle is the Scottish women's all around National champion and over the past twelve months has consistently produced personal best all around scores heading into the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer. Most recently she broke 52 points at the first Commonwealth Games trial for team Scotland and has her sights set on competing in front of a home crowd in Glasgow. Crystelle's father Derek Johnstone played 500 games for Glasgow Rangers football club and made 14 international appearances for Scotland. Crystelle is currently training at Park Wrekin gymnastics club alongside Tokyo Olympic medalist Alice Kinsella. And this is her story. 

In 2026, we’re launching a brand-new monthly gymnastics show on The Sam Oldham Podcast. Across the year, you can expect deep dives into the biggest names in the sport, the major storylines building toward championship events, and post-competition debriefs featuring some of the most passionate experts and analysts in artistic gymnastics.

In this week’s episode, we look ahead to the start of the competition season for both the British and American MAG teams, highlighting the athletes to watch as the year unfolds. Max Whitlock announced his comeback at the end of 2025, and we discuss how he could factor into the three major championships taking place in 2026.

The NCAA season is now underway, with major stars such as Asher Hong and Frederick Richard aiming to lead their teams toward a national title this spring. We also discuss two of the biggest names in men’s artistic gymnastics currently in the process of switching nationalities. Manrique Larduet, the 2015 World All-Around silver medalist and horizontal bar bronze medalist for Cuba, is hoping to represent Italy going forward. Meanwhile, Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist Ilia Kovtun, formerly of Ukraine, is now based in Croatia with ambitions of competing for them at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.

This year, we plan to continue sharing the incredible stories of the very best athletes in the sport of gymnastics. A huge thank you to our listeners, sponsors, and supporters for being part of the journey.

Welcome to Episode 1 of the Gymnastics Show.

In 2014, Stacey Ervin Jr was part of the Michigan men's gymnastics team that won back to back NCAA championships titles. Alongside World championships medalist Sam Mikulak, Stacey Ervin was a key member of the Michigan gymnastics program under head coach Kurt Golder throughout the 2016 Olympic cycle. Stacey Excelled on the floor exercise winning fifteen event finals on the apparatus during his collegiate career including National honours at the US championships. Tragically Stacey's mother passed away just before he started University but ultimately his dedication to the sport is what helped him manage his grief and find a way to keep moving forwards. Since retiring from gymnastics Stacey spent time coaching men's gymnastics, had a contract with the WWE and is now personal trainer. And this is his story.

2025 has been an amazing year in sport of Artistic gymnastics and for me personally. On the Sam Oldham Podcast we released our 100th episode with the great Fabian Hambuchen. We've interviewed nine Olympic medalists and self produced three short films in the past twelve months. I was given the opportunity to share my expertise as part of the BBC broadcasting team's coverage of the European and World gymnastics championships. I've continued to share my Olympic story with schools across the country delivering 35 gymnastics events and inspiring thousands of young people. Recently I passed my level 3 men's artistic gymnastics coaching assessment and have started representing athletes with ambitions of building a professional career in sport. And this is my story. 

In 2021 Megan Kealy became the individual World champion at the tumbling World championships and throughout the course of her career she has now won a total of fifteen World championships medals in the sport. This summer she took gold at the World Games in Chengdu China and most recently at the 2025 World tumbling championships Megan won silver and bronze medal with the British team. Just a few weeks ago she suffered an ankle injury whilst training and our conversation took place the day before her ankle ligament reconstructive surgery. I'd like to thank Megan for being incredibly generous with her time just a day before she was due to have surgery to repair her injured ankle. And this is her story. 

In 2022 at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, Clay Stephens finished 11th in the all around final, 4th with the Australian men's gymnastics team snd qualified for two individual apparatus finals. Clay has battled against insurmountable adversity throughout his career which has resulted in him undergoing six surgeries. As a child he was diagnosed with Poland syndrome which for him means he was born with only one pectoral muscle. Early in his adult life Clay was diagnosed with bowel cancer which was removed following multiple incidents of server stomach pain. After embarking on his senior international career for Australia in men's artistic gymnastics in 2017 he suffered the first of three knee injuries that took him out of the sport for significant periods of time. During this time Clay was awakened a full sports scholarship at the University of Illinois and became the team captain of the men's college gymnastics team. All together he underwent five separate knee surgeries to reconstruct his ligaments on both legs but incredibly Clay was able to find the mental strength to return to elite competition. Most recently he travelled to Nepal to build a new classroom and spend time trekking in the Himalayas. And this is his story. 

In 2002 at the Commonwealth games held in Manchester. Steve Frew won a historic gold medal in the sport of artistic gymnastics on the still rings. Throughout his professional career Steve represented Scotland at five Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at two World gymnastics championships. In the early days of his senior gymnastics career Steve worked as a full time postman in order to pursue his dreams of becoming an Olympian. Since retiring from the sport he has dedicated his time to inspiring the next generation delivering motivational talks and mentoring children in schools up and down the country. During the London 2012 Olympic Games in London Steve was the arena commentator for the sport of gymnastics at the North Greenwich arena. And this is his story. 

At the 2025 World artistic gymnastics championships in Indonesia, Joe Fraser won the horizontal bar bronze medal and became the first British man in history to stand upon the podium. Joe was part of the British team that finished 4th in the men's Olympic team final and individually he finished 5th all around in France twelve months ago. Throughout his career he has won a total of twelve major championships medals and is the only British man to have won an all round major championships title to date. Alongside training full time as a professional athlete Joe has recently opened the Joe Fraser gymnastics club in Lichfield, building upon his legacy. Since we first sat down with Joe back in August 2023, he's had multiple surgeries, competed at a second Olympic Games and successfully completed an incredible comeback which culminated in him winning the World bronze medal in October. And this is his story.