Seven surgeries would end most careers. For Clay Mason Stephens, they’ve become a way to measure resilience, identity, and what success really means, especially after an Achilles rupture wiped out a major season right before selection. We talk candidly about the rehab timeline, the emotions nobody posts, and the mindset shift that keeps him grounded: it’s not just about competing; it’s about who you become on the way back.

Clay also opens up about growing up with Poland syndrome, how missing a pectoral muscle shows up on rings and pommel horse, and why his parents’ approach shaped his confidence more than any physical limitation.

We get practical too: what US college gymnastics does better for development, how tracking base versus stretch routines can lift your scores fast, and how to prepare for competition when you expect something to go wrong. Then we zoom out to Australian gymnastics funding, inconsistent sponsorship, and why working around training in men’s artistic gymnastics isn’t just inconvenient; it can be unsafe.

Plus, Clay shares his Nepal charity work building an earthquake-resilient classroom, and an honest “what I eat in a day” at elite training volume.

If you enjoyed this one, subscribe, share it with a teammate, and leave a review. What part of Clay’s approach will you take into your own setbacks?

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Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

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Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com

Wedding planning should be simple, until you're staring at a venue contract, picking flowers in ten minutes, and realizing your guest list is basically a gymnastics reunion. We kick off this Fireside Files chat with life updates, wedding logistics, and the very real possibility of backflips on the dance floor.

Then we talk life after elite gymnastics: why in-person connection beats a highlights reel, how High Tea With Emma became a mentorship space for young gymnasts and parents, and staying close to the sport while building a career beyond it.

Finally, our World Championships preview: MAG and WAG storylines, Olympic qualification pressure, lineup decisions, the Australians and international names we're watching, and why this Worlds feels wide open.

Follow The Gymnastics Files:
Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: @thegymnasticsfiles

Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

Support the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/thegymnasticsfiles

Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com

Most "overnight successes" in elite gymnastics took years, and Breanna Scott is proof. We sit down with one of Australia's most consistent stars to trace the real path: growing up between Singapore and Australia, working through coaching and program changes, and learning to compete when the pressure gets loud.

Breanna talks about being named to the 2019 World Championships team and then having to withdraw through injury, helping Australia qualify a full women's team for Paris, and what the Olympics actually feel like day to day, from village logistics to recovery to finding fun in the chaos.

Then we get into her next chapter as an all-arounder: the sports psych cues she uses to manage beam pressure, why safe routines sometimes win championships, and how bars went from the event she avoided to a real scoring weapon. Plus, what's ahead: the next Worlds, upgrade timing, and the team's push for a final.

If you're into the show, subscribe, send it to a gymnastics friend, and leave a review. It actually helps.

Follow The Gymnastics Files:
Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: @thegymnasticsfiles

Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

Support the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/thegymnasticsfiles

Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com

One mistake can wreck an entire all-around- unless you know how to reset fast. We sit down with Australian MAG star Jesse Moore, fresh off Commonwealth Games medals, to talk mid-routine mindset, judging credit, the brutality of rings, and his road to LA 2028- plus the real grind behind it: 40+ hour training weeks, funding, and competing internationally with celiac disease.

Follow The Gymnastics Files:
Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: @thegymnasticsfiles

Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

Support the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/thegymnasticsfiles

Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com

"Don't eat dinner, you're too fat." That's a real thing gymnasts were told, and it shaped how a whole generation thinks about food.

We're going back to gymnastics from 2010 to 2018, when low-carb diets and "healthy living" were basically the same thing, and a lot of us trained hard on empty without realizing it until after we retired. We talk about water restriction, sweatsuits, and how extreme rules start to feel normal.

Then we get into what changed when we started fueling like athletes: carb timing, recovery, and protecting our bodies. We also cover how the recipe blog started, what a day on the plate looks like now, and what the Paris Olympic Village food was really like.

Plus rapid-fire hot takes on beam, scoring, and why Worlds deserves more love.

Follow The Gymnastics Files:
Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: @thegymnasticsfiles

Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com

In the very first episode of The Gymnastics Files, co-founders Emma Nedov and Arman Liew explain why they built this podcast- and dive straight into the parts of elite gymnastics fans rarely hear about.

Emma, a 2024 Paris Olympian, walks through how Olympic selection actually works behind the scenes, including a last-minute change to her beam routine she chose not to tell her own coach about.

The pair also unpacks the money side of the sport: who really pays when a young gymnast gets selected to compete internationally, why medals in Australia don't come with prize money, and how funding categorization works at a national level.

Follow The Gymnastics Files:
Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: @thegymnasticsfiles

Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

Support the podcast: https://ko-fi.com/thegymnasticsfiles

Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com

We're Emma Nedov and Arman Liew- we're launching a new weekly podcast bringing you real conversations with elite and Olympic gymnasts, competition recaps, and the questions fans actually want answered.

We're also building an athlete fund- revenue from this show goes directly to supporting current elite gymnasts with the real costs of training and competing.

New episodes drop weekly, with extra coverage during competition season. Subscribe now so you don't miss episode one.

Follow The Gymnastics Files:
Instagram/TikTok/YouTube: @thegymnasticsfiles

Support the show and our athletes:
A portion of this podcast's revenue goes directly to our athlete fund, supporting elite gymnasts with training and competition costs. Learn more at thegymnasticsfiles.com

Got a question or a guest suggestion? Email us at thegymnasticsfilespod@gmail.com