The Sam Oldham Podcast

At the 2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, Sebastian Sponevik delivered the performance of his career, capturing the vault gold medal for his home nation of Norway.
The victory marked the culmination of a remarkable 12 months. Sebastian announced himself on the international stage by collecting multiple medals on the World Cup circuit before qualifying for the men's all-around final at the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Indonesia, where he finished among the world's top 20 gymnasts.
Behind his rise stands one of Norway's greatest gymnastics icons, Espen Jansen. An 11-time Norwegian national champion, Jansen represented his country at 14 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships during an extraordinary career. It was Jansen who first spotted Sebastian's talent at a local sports fair after watching the young athlete perform a backflip—despite having never received any formal gymnastics coaching. Recognizing a rare natural ability, he took Sebastian under his wing.
Their partnership has transformed raw talent into world-class success.
Norway has become known for producing elite athletes despite its population of just 5.6 million people. The nation made global headlines at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan by finishing at the top of the medal table, highlighting the success of its unique approach to sport and athlete development.
Now, Sebastian is preparing for the next chapter.
Later this year, he will compete at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam with his sights set on breaking into the world's top 15. More importantly, every routine brings him one step closer to achieving his ultimate dream—qualifying for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
This is the story of Sebastian Sponevik.

At the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Megan Oldham captured Olympic gold for Team Canada in the women's freestyle skiing big air event. She also earned an Olympic bronze medal in women's slopestyle, marking a remarkable performance at her second Olympic Games following her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2022.
Megan made history at the 2023 X Games when she landed the first-ever triple cork performed by a female athlete in competition, across both skiing and snowboarding. Throughout her professional career, she has established herself as one of the sport's most accomplished athletes, winning two Olympic medals, four World Championship medals, and three X Games titles.
Before discovering freestyle skiing, Megan competed in artistic gymnastics and figure skating. It was her older brother, Bruce Oldham, who first introduced her to the sport that would ultimately change her life.
Since becoming an Olympic champion, Megan has enjoyed a range of unique opportunities beyond the slopes, including invitations to Formula 1 events as a Monster Energy athlete.
From a young girl chasing her dreams in multiple sports to an Olympic gold medallist and trailblazer in freestyle skiing, this is the story of Megan Oldham.

On Saturday, 6 June, at the British Team Championships, I successfully performed a horizontal bar routine—five years after retiring from men's artistic gymnastics.
At 33 years old, I wanted to challenge myself and question some of the traditional beliefs that are often accepted within the gymnastics community. This journey was about proving that limitations are not always where we think they are and that meaningful goals can still be achieved long after stepping away from competitive sport.
My inspiration for taking on this challenge came from two incredible charities: Parkinson's UK and the Samaritans. Through this effort, I am aiming to raise £2,000 to support the vital work these organisations carry out every day across the UK, helping people affected by Parkinson's and mental health challenges.
If you would like to support this cause, please consider making a donation through my GiveWheel fundraising page, which can be found via the link in my Instagram bio or YouTube description.
Thank you to everyone who has already donated and supported me throughout this journey. Your generosity and encouragement have meant a great deal.
This is my story.

At the 2025 artistic gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Sam Mostowfi claimed the bronze medal on floor exercise, earning one of the most significant international results of his career.
That performance helped secure his selection for Great Britain at the FISU World University Games in Germany. Competing against some of the world's best gymnasts, Mostowfi finished 14th in the all-around final and qualified for the floor exercise final. There, he lined up alongside elite international talent, including reigning Olympic champion Oka Shinnosuke and European champion Luke Whitehouse.
The start of the 2026 season brought another opportunity on the international stage at the American Cup, where Mostowfi competed in the mixed team event. However, his momentum was interrupted when he suffered an injury on his favourite apparatus, tearing his plantar fascia during a floor routine.
Despite this setback, Mostowfi remains part of an exceptionally strong British men's gymnastics squad, a group of athletes all striving to earn a place on Team GB for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
What sets Sam apart is not only his ability as a gymnast, but also the way he maximises every opportunity that comes his way. Whether competing on the world stage, balancing the demands of elite sport and education, or overcoming the challenges that inevitably accompany high-performance gymnastics, he continues to demonstrate resilience, ambition and determination.
This is the story of a gymnast pursuing excellence, overcoming adversity, and chasing an Olympic dream.
This is Sam Mostowfi's story.

🥇 In 2026, we’re launching a brand‑new monthly gymnastics show on The Sam Oldham Podcast. Each month, we’ll explore the biggest names, emerging storylines, and major championship build‑ups in artistic gymnastics — plus post‑competition debriefs with some of the sport’s most passionate experts and analysts.
In this week's episode, I'm going to look at the biggest stories from the world of artistic gymnastics throughout the month of May.
The NHK Cup took place in Japan and served as the final selection competition ahead of the World Gymnastics Championships, which will be held in Rotterdam later this year. Oka Shinnosuke, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, took the title after posting the highest all-around total in the world so far this year, becoming the first gymnast to break the 86-point barrier.
Daiki Hashimoto was leading the competition after performing the Yonekura vault on the second day of competition, but a fall on the high bar opened the door for Oka to claim his third consecutive NHK Cup title.
The Japanese men's team is widely regarded as having one of the most rigorous and transparent selection processes of any federation, with athletes required to compete across four days of competition. Japan also selects its major championship teams considerably earlier than most nations. The team that will represent Japan at this year's World Championships consists of Oka Shinnosuke, Daiki Hashimoto, Shohei Kawakami, Doi Ryosuke, and Maeda Fusuke.
At the Chinese National Championships, first-year senior Yang Haonan won the gold medal, defeating Zhang Boheng, with Wang Chengcheng finishing in third place.
The World Gymnastics Federation has officially confirmed that the Russian Federation will be eligible to compete as Russia at this year's World Championships. We'll look at what a potential Russian team might look like and discuss whether any members of the Tokyo Olympic gold medal-winning squad could make a return to competitive gymnastics.
Following a recent podcast conversation with Sam Mostowfi, who spoke about the impact of the pandemic and the increase in pommel horse specialists that emerged during that period, I'll be reflecting on some of the other lasting effects that time away from the sport may have had on the new generation of gymnasts competing today.
Finally, after five years in retirement, I'll be returning to competition to perform a high bar routine at the British Team Championships on June 6th, raising money for Parkinson's UK and the Samaritans.
This year, our mission remains the same — to share the stories behind the finest athletes in the sport of gymnastics. Thank you to our listeners, sponsors, and supporters for being part of the journey.

Welcome to Episode 5 of The Gymnastics Show 🎙️