The Sam Oldham Podcast

In 2023 we started planning, recording, editing and uploading the Sam Oldham podcast. By the end of the year we will have sat down and recorded our 50th episode, which is an achievement myself and Sam Lindley are very proud of.  I've had the opportunity to sit down and talk to some amazing guests who have been kind enough to share their incredible stories with us over the past twelve months.  In this episode I explore the stories that resonated with our listeners the most, talk about what I learned along the way and also what those guests have been up to since appearing on the podcast.  And this is my story. 

In 2010 James Wells was diagnosed with Myeloid Leukaemia at the age of twenty one. Just six months later following five months of intense chemotherapy James represented team England World Karate championships in Las Vegas.  However his Leukaemia relapsed which led to him requiring an urgent stem cell transplant and against all odds his little sister proved to be a perfect match. After another four months of intensive chemotherapy and full body irradiation James remarkably made a full recovery. In total he spent 286 days in hospital and incredibly went on to win two World Karate championships medals in the years that followed. And this is his story. 

In 2022 Declan James represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham winning the gold medal in the men's squash doubles final alongside his partner James Willstrop.  That year also finished with him being crowned a World squash doubles champion however he suffered a ruptured achilles whilst competing and underwent reconstructive surgery. After extensive rehabilitation he's now back competing internationally and has his sights on getting back to his very best.  Dec broke into the world top 20 reaching 15th place in the world rankings back in 2019 following his successful Commonwealth debut in the gold Coast Australia 2018 where he picked up a bronze medal. Squash has been included in the LA 2028 Olympic program and Dec talks about his hopes for the sport and his career moving forward. And this is his story. 

In July 2021 Ekow Essumen won the British and Commonwealth boxing welterweight titles to add to his English title at the age of 32. He defended the British, Commonwealth, English and European IBF belts five times over the next two years. On November the 18th 2023 the fighter from Nottingham lost against Harry Scarff by unanimous decision at the Manchester arena. Ekow came to the UK at the age of eleven  from Botswana with his Dad and found the sport of boxing as a teenager. His career led him to fight in front of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium on the undercard of Anthony Joshua and his professional record now stands at 19 wins and one loss. He started KO interventions with his business parter and offers boxing training alongside mentorship to children on the brink of secondary school exclusion. And this is his story. 

On January the 10th 2022 Kohei Uchimura san officially announced his retirement from competitive gymnastics. He won seven Olympic medals and a total of twenty one world championships medals throughout his career. The very first gymnastics competition I watched on TV was the Athens 2004 Olympic Games in which Alexi Nemov changed the sport of men's artistic gymnastics forever with his incredible High Bar routine. Vitaly Scherbo won six Olympic gold medals in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games an achievement that is unlikely to ever be repeated. These are my three greatest male gymnasts of all time. And this is my story. 

In October 2023 Leigh Wood knocked out the former two time featherweight champion Josh Warrington in the seventh round to retain his world title. The boxer from Nottingham has a professional record of 28 wins and 3 losses in his career to date. He faced Xu can in 2021 beating him to become the WBA featherweight champion of the world. His first title defence took place at the Motorpoint arena in his home city against Michael Conlin where Leigh managed to knockout the Irish fighter in the 12th round. This year he went toe to toe with Mauricio Lara twice in the space of three months claiming a unanimous decision in their rematch that took place in May. The famous city ground and home of Nottingham Forest football club has never hosted a boxing match but Leigh Wood hopes to make history securing a fight there in 2024. Leigh talks about his early professional career, facing setbacks and his plan for the future. And this is his story. 

In 2022 Frank Baines represented team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games for the third time in his career. Frank became the junior European all around champion in 2012 and was one of the best young talents in the sport of gymnastics. At just age seventeen Frank transitioned into the senior Great Britain mens gymnastics squad. Later that year whilst training at the Lilleshall National sports centre a freak accident on the High Bar resulted in him fracturing his T1 - T4 in his spine.  Incredibly he competed just six months later and was part of team Scotlands most successful Commonwealth Games to date. Frank represented Great Britain at the European championships and was part of World championships teams as the travelling reserve on multiple occasions. His gymnastics will always be remembered by fans and team mates for being ascetically beautiful and personifying the meaning of Artistic Gymnastics. And this is his story. 

In 2008 Louis Smith became the British male gymnast to win an Olympic medal in a century. This inspired a generation of young British male artistic gymnasts that have since gone on to win eight more Olympic medals alongside countless World, European and Commonwealth silverware. Louis was part of history again in London 2012 winning the first team medal in 100 years and followed that up with a Pommel horse silver medal in the O2 arena. Louis became a household name after his Olympic success in 2012 and he went on to be crowned the winner of strictly come dancing later that year. His Rio 2016 Olympic Pommel horse silver medal brought his career total to twenty major championships honours but it was also tainted in controversy. Louis was accused of unsportsmanlike behaviour by the mainstream media and a few months later faced one of the biggest challenges yet when a video of him was leaked to the press. In recent years he's taken a step back from the spotlight and he is now a proud father to a little girl alongside his partner. Louis is a true sports personality. And this is his story. 

In 2020 a men's artistic gymnastics athlete tested positive for a banned substance. He was given a four year ban and following an appeal to the court of arbitration for sport this was reduced to two years. He argued that the Meldonium found in his system which is commonly used to treat heart conditions was due to contaminated food products. I was very naive about my sport growing up, to me it was all bout respect, work ethic, honesty and wether or not the best man could win. We all have a different set of motivations in life and an individual set of starting blocks. Cheating has always been a big part of sport. And this is my story. 

In 2015 Josh Champion was given the head coach position for the men's program at the Notts Gymnastics Academy at the age of 22.  His gymnastics journey began in his home town of Southport at the local gymnastics club Southport YMCA. He was part of a training group that included Olympic medalist Dan Purvis and Commonwealth Games medalist Frank Baines. Josh started his coaching career at the club alongside studying sports science at university in Liverpool. Over the course of the past eight years he has developed a very successful men's program at the Notts Gymnastics Academy which today includes multiple GB squad members across all age groups. In January he took over the role of senior coach at the club following the departure of Sergey Sizhanov. And this is his story.