I Have Cool Friends

Sam welcomes to the podcast close friend and former 2008 Olympic and 2007 World Championship teammate, Nastia Liukin. Nastia’s gymnastics accomplishments include the 2008 Olympic all-around champion, five-time Olympic medalist, the 2005 and 2007 world champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 world champion on uneven bars. She is also a four-time, all-around U.S. national champion, winning twice as a junior and twice as a senior.

Sam welcomes to the podcast close friend and former 2008 Olympic teammate, Chellsie Memmel. Chellsie’s gymnastics accomplishments include being the 2003 world champion on the uneven bars and the 2005 world all-around champion; just the third American woman in history to win that title. She has seven World Championship and Olympic medals and is tied with Shawn Johnson as the seventh most decorated US female gymnast.

Sam welcomes to the podcast former Olympic teammate and close friend, Alicia Sacramone Quinn. Alicia is a former American gymnast who is also the second-most decorated American gymnast in World Championship history, netting ten medals during her illustrious career. Since retiring from gymnastics, Alicia has gone on to start a family and welcomed her second daughter in July 2018.

In the Season 1 recap episode, Sam reflects on all of her “cool friends” and the lessons she learned while having them on as guests. Sam divulges the goal of her podcast, which is to educate and inspire while covering topics related to gymnastics.

In this episode, Shawn chronicles her gymnastics career, covering topics such as self-doubt, respect, pressures of competition and her life after. Shawn and Sam reminisce about their past competitions, their strict yet supportive coaches, and the rigors of Olympic life. Of course, there was plenty of fun to be had too, as Shawn regales stories of sleepovers, Nutella and pizza boxes.

Amanda Borden is a retired American gymnast, Olympian, coach, gym owner, and gym mom to three kids. After being coached by Mary Lee Tracy, Amanda was the captain of the gold medal winning team, the Magnificent Seven, in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, a team medalist at the World Championships, and a multiple-medalist at the 1995 Pan American games. She graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University with a degree in childhood education.

Betty Okino is a former American artistic gymnast and Olympic medalist who was born in Uganda to a Ugandan father and a Romanian mother. As a result, she is fluent in Romanian. Growing up, she trained with Marta and Béla Károlyi in Houston. She was part of the 1992 bronze-winning Olympic team, which was also the first ever team medal at the Olympic Games for USA Gymnastics. In addition, Betty won a silver medal with her team in the 1991 World Championships and a bronze medal on the balance beam.

Jordyn Wieber is a former American artistic gymnast and was a member of the US Women’s Gymnastics Team, the Fierce Five. Some of her achievements include being a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, 2011 World Champion, three-time American Cup champion, and two-time US National All-around champion. At a young age, after her parents noticed she was a muscular child, they decided to enroll her in gymnastics and she has continued with the sport ever since.

Brandon Wynn is an artistic gymnast from New Jersey. He is a member of the US World and National Team and competed in gymnastics for The Ohio State University. At the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Brandon won a Bronze medal on Still Rings and is one of the two men in US history to win an individual medal in Still Rings. He even got to be on the cover of one of the world’s largest fitness magazines, Muscle and Fitness.

Laurie Hernandez is a 2016 Olympic gold medalist who has also won an Olympic silver medal on beam, won season 23 of Dancing with the Stars, was featured on an episode of Stuck in the Middle, and is only 18 years old. At 16, Laurie became the youngest winner of Dancing with the Stars. She has also made appearances on Sesame Street, Celebrity Family Feud, and will be co-hosting American Ninja Warrior Junior.

Nicole Jontony was a former elite collegiate gymnast at Ohio State, has helped her team make it to the NCAA championships during her senior year, and is currently a sports dietitian at The Ohio State University. Recently, Nicole was selected as the 2018 Young Dietitian of the Year by the Ohio Academy of Nutrition Dietetics.

Alison Arnold, also known as “Doc Ali” in the gymnastics world, has a more than interesting resume. She has a PhD in Psychology, is a former gymnast, and has been on trips to a monastery in Nepal, Peru, and Thailand, as well as in the jungle of the Amazon with a shaman. She has also been a mental toughness coach for USA Gymnastics since 1997. Doc Ali has worked with Olympic medalists, NCAA champions, and thousands of athletes to help achieve their dreams for the past 25 years.

Madison Kocian’s reputation precedes her—her numerous accolades are just a representation of her hard-working, determined, and accomplished self. Some of her awards include winning the team gold medal with the “Final Five” and the uneven bars silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, becoming the 2015 world champion on bars, and being a member of the UCLA gymnastics team.

Jill Hicks, known as the “College Recruiting Expert” tells us in this episode about her journey with college gymnastics as well as some advice for parents, coaches, and aspiring young gymnasts. Over time, the college recruiting process for gymnastics has drastically changed. Jill’s consulting company, Jill Hicks Consulting LLC, strives to market her support for college-bound gymnastics to choose what the best fit is for them.

Sam has had some amazing people help her in her journey to becoming a top gymnast, but one of the most important has to be Valorie Kondos-Field, otherwise known as Miss Val. As coach at UCLA, she led them to win 7 national championships. Her book, Life is Short, Don’t Wait to Dance, will be available for purchase September 2018. In this episode, Sam and Val discuss how they met, Val’s unorthodox coaching style, and the Larry Nassar scandal.