The Sam Oldham Podcast

In the Men's gymnastics team final that took place in the Bercy arena last night in Paris. The Japanese team took the title after the Chinese men threw away a three mark lead heading into the final rotation. America came out on top in the battle for bronze and Stephen Nedoroscik mirrored the performance of Sasha Artemev at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games to secure team USA's first Olympic team medal in sixteen years. The GB team finished in fourth, repeating their results from Rio and Tokyo and were able to hold off the strong Ukrainian team. I'm joined in this episode by Hamish Carter a former GB athlete and current Team Scotland gymnast. And this is our story. 

In July and August of 2024 the best male gymnasts on the planet will compete for eight gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games. The top eight teams, 24 all around gymnasts and eight individual specialists on all six apparatus will battle it out for Olympic glory. In this episode I'm going to predict my top three athletes ahead of each gold medal event. I'm going to talk about what it's like to compete at the biggest show on earth and also share my big takeaways from the brand new Simone Biles documentary that released on Netflix this past week. And this is my story.

In 2015 Kelly Simm was part of the British women's gymnastics team that won a historic bronze medal at the World championships in Glasgow. Kelly represented team England at three consecutive Commonwealth Games between 2014 and 2022 winning two gold, a silver and a bronze medal in the process. The World university Games is the second biggest global sporting event after the Olympic Games and in 2015 Kelly became the all around champion in Gwangju South Korea. Kelly officially retire from the sport in January this year and is now using her experiences in gymnastics to positively impact the next generation. And this is her story. 

In June 2024 the Men's US Olympic gymnastics trials took place and the five men that will compete for a medal in Paris have been confirmed. Fredrick Richard, Body Malone, Paul Juda, Asher Hong and Stephen Nedoroscik are the team tasked with battling it out in France. I'm joined in this episode by Kensley Behel who has been doing an incredible job keeping the men's gymnastics community informed thanks to her Neutral Deductions social media channels and podcast. Today we are going to preview the Paris Olympic Games now that the twelve men's teams have been finalised. And this is our story. 

In 2012 at the Junior European Championships, Jay Thompson succeeded Louis Smith, Daniel Keatings and Max Whitlock to become the pommel horse gold medalist. Throughout his career Jay competed for team England and Great Britain winning over thirty medals both nationally and internationally. A combination of injuries and challenges in the sport led to him sharing his experiences publicly during the summer of 2020. Since retiring from gymnastics, he's turned his creative talents into photography and videography to build a successful career of his own. And this is his story. 

In August 2023 during a pre-season training session at Keyworth United football club I was involved in a collision that led to an all too familiar trip to the Queens medical centre hospital in Nottingham. An investigation into the shoulder and neck pain I was experiencing began. After multiple scans and an Arthogram the shoulder specialist revealed I had full thickness tears in three of my shoulder tendons and recommended shoulder surgery to fix them. I chose not to operate at the time but last week once again I ended up in A&E unable to move my neck. And this is my story. 

In 2023 at the Artistic gymnastics World championships Team USA took the bronze medal in the men's final. They are now favourites to finish on the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games this summer for the first time since taking bronze at the Beijing games in 2008. Individually their squad is incredible strong and the impressive comeback after multiple knee surgeries in 2023 by Brody Malone to be crowned the US National champion last week surprised the gymnastics community. With the likes of Fred Richard, Khoi Young, Yul Moldauer, Asher Hong, Shane Wiskus, Donnell Whittenburg and Paul Juda all hoping to make the Olympic team. It's going to be a classic American dog fight. Today I'm joined by Kensley Behel the brilliant human being behind the neutral deductions social media channel that follows the world of men's gymnastics. And this is our story. 

In 2010 Luke Folwell made history becoming then most successful British gymnast at a Commonwealth Games winning five medals for team England in Delhi. Luke competed for Great Britain at the highest level and was start of the World championships team in 2007 that took the first steps towards the incredible success we see today from British men's gymnastics teams. He now plays a key role in that continued success and was part of the coaching team that supported the athletes who recently claimed the junior European title for the first time since 2016. Luke has experienced both sides of the sport. And this is his story. 

In June 2024 my current coaching role at the Notts Gymnastics Academy is coming to an end. I've now been coaching gymnastics for three years and I'm in process of working towards my level 3 qualification. The opportunity to work alongside Josh Champion, who I consider to be my coaching mentor has been invaluable during that time. I have made mistakes, learnt some incredible life lessons and experienced real joy in my young coaching journey so far. I hope to continue learning and developing as a coach moving forward. And this is my story. 

In the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games the Russian Olympic Committee edged out Japan to claim the men's gymnastics team title. With Russia being shut out of the Olympic movement and the Japanese team being the reigning World champions. They are firm favourites heading into the Paris 2024 Games taking place this summer. Following the All Japan championships and the NHK trophy the five men that will represent Japan have now been selected. In this episode of the podcast I chat all things Japanese gymnastics and Paris 2024 predictions with Katherine Mills. The amazing lady behind MAGnastics a social media channel dedicated solely to men's gymnastics who recently travelled to Japan to watch the All Japan event. And this is our story.