The Sam Oldham Podcast

In 2024 at the Paris Olympic Games. Hiroaki Sato lead the Japanese men's artistic gymnastics team to victory as the head coach in the men's team final winning gold for Japan. In 2017 Hiroaki was asked by his childhood friend Kohei Uchimura to play the role of his personal coach in the final chapter of his gymnastics career as he prepared for the Tokyo Olympic Games. He spent four years working alongside arguably the greatest male gymnast of all time in Kohei Uchimura. His achievements include two all around Olympic titles and six back to back world championships gold medals which made him the most dominant athlete in the sport for a decade. Preceding the time he spent with Uchimura, Hiroaki coached the great Naoya Tsukahara the Athens 2004 Olympic champion with team Japan. Since Paris he is now working in Australia as the high performance head coach of the men's gymnastics team with the 2032 Olympic Games being held in Brisbane. Hiroaki sits on the FIG commission and is passionate about coach education. Remarkably as s a young gymnast he was coached by Nikoli Andrianov a fifteen times Olympic medalist, was mentored by Vitaly Scherbo's coach in his early coaching career and then went on to work alongside the legendary Kohei Uchimura. This conversation was a real highlight for me personally and I'd like to thank Hiroaki for giving us his time. And this is his story.

Welcome to Episode 3 of the Gymnastics Show on The Sam Oldham Podcast.
In 2026, we’re launching a brand-new monthly series dedicated to the world of artistic gymnastics. Across the year, you can expect deep dives into the sport’s biggest names, analysis of the major storylines building toward championship events, and post-competition debriefs featuring some of the most passionate experts and analysts in the game.
The 2026 British Artistic Gymnastics Championships delivered on every level.
Joe Fraser and Ruby Evans were crowned All-Around champions in the men’s and women’s competitions, capping off a weekend of exceptional performances. Heading into the championships, the competitive landscape was wide open, with three different athletes in both disciplines having already claimed titles at the English, Welsh, and Scottish Championships.
In the men’s competition, Jake Jarman competed across all six apparatus for the first time since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, while Max Whitlock OBE went head-to-head with the new generation of pommel horse specialists. The Leeds Gymnastics Club duo of Harry Hepworth and Luke Whitehouse delivered world-class routines on their signature events, and exciting new talent emerged in Jonas Rushworth, Reuben Ward, and U18 All-Around champion Zakaine Fawzi.
The women’s competition reached a new level in 2026, with all five members of the Paris 2024 Olympic team returning to the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. On Saturday alone, six athletes broke the 50-point barrier in the All-Around final. Ruby Evans secured the title in dominant fashion, followed by Ruby Stacey in second and Shantae-Eve Amankwaah in third.
Apparatus finals brought more standout moments: Abi Martin claimed vault gold, Becky Downie triumphed on uneven bars, Alia Leat took the beam title, and Ruby Evans closed the championships in style with a 13.750 to win floor.
With three major championships ahead in 2026—and World Championship qualification playing a key role in the road to LA 2028—the stakes have never been higher. Athletes, coaches, and support teams are pushing the limits in pursuit of peak performance as attention begins to shift toward the next Olympic cycle.
This year, we’re excited to continue sharing the incredible stories of the very best athletes in gymnastics.
A huge thank you to our listeners, sponsors, and supporters for being part of the journey.
Enjoy the episode.

On Friday March the 20th 2026 at the 118th British artistic gymnastics championships we had the opportunity to interview some of the biggest names in the sport. In 2026 we will see three major championships take place and the official LA 2028 Olympic selection process will begin at the World championships in Rotterdam. Heading into the weekend we have three different men toping the home Nations competitions in the all around standings in Adam Tobin, Reuben Ward and Jonas Rushworth. Following the podium training session today it became clear that Jake Jarman will be competing on all six events for the first time since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Max Whitlock makes his return to the M&S bank arena as he continues his comeback push towards his fifth Olympic Games. Harry Hepworth is planning to perform not one but two of the most difficult vaults in the world which would put him ahead of both Jake Jarman and Carlos Yulo in terms of his difficulty. Luke Whitehouse will be motivated to build upon another incredible year in 2025 after winning European gold & World silver and look to produce strong performances across multiple apparatus. Joe Fraser will be hoping to challenge for the all around title and showcase world class gymnastics on his favoured events. It's going to be an incredible weekend with live gymnastics on the BBC iPlayer at 2:55PM on Saturday the 21st of March. Thank you to all of the athletes that generously gave up their time to chat with us today and supporters of the podcast that stopped to say hello. And this is their story.

In 2010 at the age of 18, my Dad contacted Red Bull who had seen me perform at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore winning Gold and Silver in artistic gymnastics for Team GB. I was approached by a sports management company and introduced to Chris Smith a chartered accountant, auditor, business coach and trained mediator. Chris was a founding partner of Granite Morgan Smith FC who advise property owners, professional athletes and family business clients on everything from managing their finances, running a business and minimising tax. Chris has worked with the British athletes commission, England handball association and helped advise UK sport to design the new athlete performance awards. At just sixteen Chris Smith started his first business from his bedroom providing football teams with sportswear clothing which he used to fund his university degree. The landscape of elite sport is a ruthless one and in this episode Chris Smith shares incredible insights into the world of athlete finances. And this is his 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, I’m joined by Kensley Behel, the brilliant mind behind the Neutral Deductions team, who focus on the sport of men’s artistic gymnastics.
We take a deep dive into the recent Home Nations competitions that have taken place across the UK as athletes begin building momentum ahead of this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Kensley also brings me up to speed with all the latest news from the U.S. men’s gymnastics program, and together we recap the key performances from the Winter Cup.
Finally, we look back at the Cottbus World Cup in February, where several standout routines came from the Neutral Russian athletes—gymnasts who will undoubtedly be motivated to make an impact on the world stage in 2026.
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 2 of the Gymnastics Show.