How Breanna Scott Became Australia’s Quiet All-Around Star | Ep. 4

Emma Nedov: Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of The Gymnastics Files. This is a very special episode because we have my really good friend, soon to be Arman’s really good friend, and teammate Breanna Scott here with us today.

Arman Liew: Hey Bree, we’re so excited to have you here. I feel like this is a big exclusive, because when we do a bit of research — not that you need any research done — we look at what other podcasts or media you’ve done, and there’s not a lot out there.

Breanna Scott: Not much.

Arman Liew: No, so this is a big exclusive. Thank you for being here.

Breanna Scott: Thanks for having me. Media’s not generally my favourite thing to do, but I feel very honoured to be sitting here.

Emma Nedov: Thanks for giving us the time.

Breanna Scott: No problem.

Arman Liew: There’s so much we can ask and go through. I think what would be really great for our listeners, and for us as well, is to hear how you got into gymnastics. The few snippets online mention Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne, and from the outside looking in, people would have just assumed you’ve always been a Melbourne girl.

Breanna Scott: So I was born in Singapore, which I know is a fact they like to throw out there. I actually started gymnastics back in Australia when I was seven or eight. Mum put me in it because I was flipping around a lot and had a lot of energy. Then I got put into a competitive program because they realised I could do some stuff, and it went from there. My family moved back to Singapore for a while, so I trained there, then came back to Australia again and actually trained with Emma for a while. We trained with the same coach. It was such a great time.

Arman Liew: How old were you then?

Breanna Scott: Around 13 when I started there.

Emma Nedov: And that was at SGSC in Sydney. So you were 13 — wait, how old are you now?

Breanna Scott: 24.

Emma Nedov: 24, and I’m 30. So I was six years older than you, in the peak of my training. I’d like to say I helped you get to where you are.

Breanna Scott: Let’s pretend. Of course.

Arman Liew: And when your family went back to Singapore, was that for work?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, it was for my dad’s job. The whole family was there for a while. It was a fun time.

Emma Nedov: How many years were you training in Singapore?

Breanna Scott: I moved there when I was eight, maybe, and moved back when I was 13.

Arman Liew: So it was actually a big chunk of time.

Emma Nedov: Yeah. When I was over in Singapore doing something, everyone was like, “Do you know Breanna Scott?” And I was like, oh, this is really cool. Bree’s got to go back over to Singapore.

Breanna Scott: And our coach who trained us both on beam is in Singapore now as well, and Georgia-Rose is over there too, so there are a lot of little connections.

Arman Liew: Exactly. They’re setting the scene for you to go back. So you walked so Amanda Yap could run — is that what’s happened?

Breanna Scott: Exactly — you set the scene for that. They actually mentioned it at Comm Games. Someone pointed out that I’d had Jen as a beam coach, Emma had Jen as a beam coach, and now Amanda. So there are three of us who’ve been coached on beam by Jen, which is a fun little fact.

Arman Liew: So good. You moved back to Sydney after Singapore, and now you’re in Melbourne. How did all that come about?

Breanna Scott: I trained in Sydney for a while at SGSC. Then, just after COVID, our program at SGSC was no more, so I moved over to the high performance centre side. Same gym, different coach. Yusuf, my coach now, started coaching me there. After a couple of years he got a job at Waverley here in Melbourne, and I ended up following him.

Emma Nedov: That was pretty extraordinary, because Yusuf wasn’t a WAG coach at the time — he was a MAG coach.

Breanna Scott: Yeah, he coached the boys and then took on the WAG program.

Emma Nedov: Which is super cool, because he’s also one of Australia’s best beam coaches right now. He’s done so well with you. To go from bringing Bree in to all of a sudden being in WAG and doing a really great job with you.

Arman Liew: So good. Was he originally a gymnast himself? Or am I making that up?

Breanna Scott: No, yes, he was. He did do gym.

Arman Liew: That’s crazy. So he was in Sydney with you and then came down to Melbourne. And Waverley is where you’re currently at — for the last five years? A few years?

Breanna Scott: I moved at the start of 2023.

Arman Liew: Oh, so when you made the team for your first Commonwealth Games in 2022 — which we’ll get into a bit later — you were actually in Sydney.

Breanna Scott: Yeah, I was in Sydney then.

Arman Liew: Excellent. So let’s segue into your gymnastics journey. You became a senior at 16?

Breanna Scott: 16, yeah, in 2017.

Arman Liew: Right, so you’ve been elite for a little while now.

Breanna Scott: I’m like a grandma.

Arman Liew: No, we won’t play the age game.

Breanna Scott: I walked so — what’s the saying?

Arman Liew: You walked so other grandmas could run.

Breanna Scott: Georgia-Rose, Georgia Godwin — I’m not quite at that level yet.

Arman Liew: No, you’ve still got a good three Olympic cycles before we start playing the old card. At least two. Was 2022 Comm Games your first big competition representing Australia?

Breanna Scott: I’d say that was my first major competition for Australia. I did get selected for the 2019 Worlds team, but unfortunately pulled out due to injury right before we left. Then there was COVID and everything, so 2022 Comm Games was my first major event.

Emma Nedov: It’s worth noting that at the 2019 Worlds camp, your shins were in so much pain. When you say you pulled out because of injury — you were walking on glass.

Breanna Scott: It was not comfortable. They sent me for a scan during the camp and said I couldn’t continue or my shin would break. So I had to pull out, which was obviously for the better, but it was very disappointing at the time. That was the first Australian team I’d made, and to almost make it and then not — it felt like the end of the world. When really it was just the beginning of everything.

Emma Nedov: Isn’t it funny how that happens? At the time you think, this is the end of the world, what if I never come back? And you’ve had your most success two or three years after that, and counting.

Breanna Scott: Yeah. But at the time it definitely feels like a big deal.

Arman Liew: I feel like if you’d been on the team in 2019, we would have had a full Olympic team, we would have had team finals.

Emma Nedov: I wouldn’t go that far. I could have retired in 2020.

Arman Liew: 2022 was such a breakout year for you. We got to know you at the Commonwealth Games, and then from there you went to Worlds?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, 2022 was Comm Games and Worlds. It was a big year — pretty similar to this year actually, with Comm Games and Worlds in the same year, which is always big for all of us on the team.

Arman Liew: Being in Australia, it’s such a faff to get overseas, especially to Europe. Where was Comm Games in 2022 — Manchester?

Breanna Scott: Birmingham.

Arman Liew: Birmingham. And Worlds was also in Europe?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, Worlds was in Liverpool.

Arman Liew: Did you just stay there the whole time?

Breanna Scott: We did not — we came back in between. It’s a lot of travel.

Arman Liew: Especially to the same region. I would have kept the team there, had the coaches come, brought the families across.

Breanna Scott: If only. I’m not sure we have the funds for that. Living the Euro dream — I’d just stay in Europe for half the year. Goals.

Arman Liew: Which makes it easier for all the European countries that can just take a two-hour flight. 2023 was a huge year. I don’t know if pressure is the right word, but the Australian team really wanted a full Olympic team after missing out for a couple of cycles with just one or two athletes. You were on the team in 2023, and you guys qualified. Was there a lot of pressure going into it?

Breanna Scott: There definitely was. Still to this day, qualifying that team for the Olympics at 2023 Worlds is one of my favourite competition memories, doing it with that team of girls — which was actually the same team that just competed at Comm Games, so it’s a pretty special team to us. We were all really nervous. Very, very nervous. But I think all of us look back on it as such a special moment.

Arman Liew: In 2023 as well — I’m not sure if you saw much of it online, but a lot of the gymnastics media was asking who this Breanna Scott was. I think at the time you had the highest beam score the quad had seen, maybe at Oceania?

Emma Nedov: Back at it again with the fun facts.

Arman Liew: I just remember reading all this. There was a lot of chatter about where this Breanna Scott had come from, putting up a huge score. At every competition after that, people were watching to see who would beat it — even at the Asian Games. I think that’s the period where you really made a name for yourself, especially on beam. Some may argue bars is your favourite, but if we really knuckle down, it’s beam.

Breanna Scott: Love bars, yeah. I’m somewhat of a bars specialist, let’s say. But I have become known more for beam.

Emma Nedov: Which is funny — people who weren’t on the inside felt like Bree popped out of the blue. But we always knew you had a knack for beam, and for all-around too.

Arman Liew: Which is so nice to see, especially in the last two or three years. It’s no longer Bree the beam specialist, it’s Bree the all-arounder. For any country to have a couple of all-arounders is a huge deal, and to be one of them is great. Bringing it back to 2023, that was a really exciting time for Australia to qualify a full team. Was there pressure on you guys to perform really well at the Olympics, or was it more, let’s go out there and enjoy ourselves?

Breanna Scott: Emma can probably speak on this as well, but I think we were just so happy to have qualified a team in the first place, because that was our goal for the entire cycle before. And making it to the Olympics was a whole story in itself — the next year there were a lot of injuries and a lot happening. So to actually make it there, I think we were all just really happy to be there.

Emma Nedov: Happy to land in France, really.

Arman Liew: How did you find the Olympic experience?

Breanna Scott: It’s something I’m very grateful for, and I look back on a lot of great memories. But with the whole thing comes a lot of stress and a lot of issues, which I think comes with any major comp — there are always little bumps in the road. Overall, I’m so grateful for the experience, and it was a really fun time for the most part.

Arman Liew: And you enjoyed the athlete village? I got a bit of the inside scoop from you about the food situation, but you had a good time there — meeting other athletes, going to a boulangerie?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, we made some baguettes. That was fun.

Emma Nedov: That’s right, I forgot about that. We did make baguettes.

Breanna Scott: There’s so much I forget, and then other people bring it up and I’m like, oh my god, so true. We got the metro. We navigated the public transport system. Emma and I are really good at public transport.

Emma Nedov: I’ve gotten better recently. In Carlton I get the train.

Breanna Scott: That’s really brave of you.

Emma Nedov: Thank you. I’ll teach you.

Arman Liew: If you can catch a metro in Paris, you can catch public transport anywhere.

Breanna Scott: Public transport overseas is so much more fun than public transport in Australia.

Emma Nedov: But that’s part of the appeal right now. When I’ve been getting the train, I feel like I’m in Europe. That’s what I manifest, because I’m going back to Carlton, little Italy. Anyway, side note. That gives you a bit of an insight into what we discuss.

Arman Liew: So I’m guessing neither of you has gone home and tried to replicate the baguettes?

Breanna Scott: Unfortunately not. Haven’t done that one.

Arman Liew: Well, next time we have you on, we’ll make sure you’ve done it and maybe bring something.

Emma Nedov: How about you? Are you a baguette maker?

Arman Liew: I feel like I know my limits, and there’s just some food you don’t even bother touching — like a croissant, like a baguette.

Emma Nedov: But towards LA, maybe you could make some Olympic foods that are American. What’s that — a burger?

Arman Liew: A burger. We could do an LA burger, fries, In-N-Out. We’ll think of something. It’s interesting talking to both of you about the Olympic experience — it’s not as glamorous as it seems, but there’s a lot of fun to it as well. Did you do opening ceremony, closing ceremony?

Breanna Scott: We didn’t do opening, did we? No. We did closing ceremony. We actually left the village for a bit and then came back for closing, which was really fun. I really liked that.

Arman Liew: Gymnastics for some reason is always in the first couple of days — I guess they want people to actually watch the Olympics, so they get everyone in, then put lawn bowls and some other stuff in the middle, and end with swimming.

Emma Nedov: No, swimming’s at the start. Swimming and gymnastics go in hot, and then athletics is at the end. Which is kind of good, because when all the athletics people started coming into the village, it was very overrun. With respect.

Arman Liew: But after you compete, do they say, all right, gymnastics was days one to three, get out of the athlete village?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, they kick you out. See ya.

Emma Nedov: To be fair, I think we were all pretty happy.

Breanna Scott: We wanted to get off those cardboard beds.

Arman Liew: Did you get a mattress topper?

Breanna Scott: We did, yeah, we got mattress toppers.

Arman Liew: You hear the rumours that Uber Eats wasn’t super popular in France, but during the Olympics people were FedExing and Amazoning as much bedding as they could to make it more comfortable. So it actually was cardboard?

Breanna Scott: It is really nice. Who needs rest and recovery anyway?

Arman Liew: Not Olympic athletes. Thank goodness you had the Australian camp making sure you got coffee and poke bowls and muffins or cookies.

Emma Nedov: The chocolate muffins out of the dining hall were actually pretty good. Too rich for me, but we did try them.

Arman Liew: And where did you stay when you left the athlete village? Still in Paris, or did you go somewhere else because Paris was all shut down?

Emma Nedov: Where’d you go?

Breanna Scott: I went somewhere in France — the south of France, I think. We kind of split up, went somewhere for a couple of days, and then it all came back together.

Emma Nedov: For you guys in particular — I was the little ring-in to that team, because the four of you with Georgia Godwin were the ones who qualified it. It had been such a massive campaign for two whole years. Did you feel drained after?

Breanna Scott: Definitely. I think we were all exhausted after that. It was a much-needed break.

Emma Nedov: How long did you take off? I don’t think we’ve even spoken about it since you got back from Paris.

Breanna Scott: I did take a bit of a break. I can’t remember exactly, but it was a month or so off gym entirely, which was definitely needed. I took some time to re-evaluate and figure out what I wanted to do next and why I was going to keep going. I did know I wanted to keep going after the Olympics. But you have that come-down after the Olympics that I think everyone experiences, where you question whether you want to keep doing this. I had that for a little bit, but pretty quickly I was like, no, I do still want to keep doing this. Then I just had to figure out what I wanted to do next and why.

Arman Liew: That’s so fascinating to hear, because I think most people see the Olympics as the peak — once you go there, what else is there? And we’re going to get into it, because after the Olympics is really where you cemented a name for yourself.

Emma Nedov: It’s been up, up, up from there. That was just the baby mountain. And luckily we both have a phenomenal sports psych.

Arman Liew: Which goes back to how important that is. We had Jesse Moore last week, and he talked about using a sports psych as well, which is so underrated. When you took that month off training, did you still go to the gym and do light weights or something? Or was it more, I’m going to the beach?

Breanna Scott: Each to their own, but I just took time entirely off to relax and chill, and then slowly built back into proper training — which took another few months. No exercise at all. Actually, I did get bored and go for a run once.

Emma Nedov: I don’t remember you telling me that.

Arman Liew: That’s the pinnacle of boredom, to go for a run.

Breanna Scott: I regretted that. I was like, we will not be doing that again. I don’t know why people enjoy it.

Arman Liew: Running’s an interesting one.

Breanna Scott: Gymnasts don’t really run. Do you run?

Arman Liew: No. I’ve got friends who say, “I’m going for a 5k,” and in my mind that seems easy. Then 200 metres in, I’m like, I’ll meet you at the cafe and wait for you to come around. But walking — I can walk everywhere. I love a walk. So let’s go to 2025 nationals — a very, very successful campaign for you. You came away with the all-around gold and a bunch of other medals, which is super exciting, especially with individual Worlds after it. Was your goal coming into 2025 to be one of the athletes who went to Worlds?

Breanna Scott: Definitely. Like I was saying, after the Olympics, when I had to think about why I was going to keep going, one of the main things was that I really wanted to cement myself as an all-arounder, which I hadn’t been able to do in previous years. I’d always trained all-around, but like you said, I was known as the beam person for a bit. After the Olympics I wanted to show people I could do all-around as well. So I made that a priority that year and made sure people knew that was my goal. Beam is still probably my best, but all-around was a big goal of mine.

Arman Liew: It was really impressive to see that shift, especially on bars — you came out of nowhere and started chucking all these really difficult things. There’s a lot of chatter on Twitter — sorry, X, we had to apologise to Elon Musk last week for calling it the wrong thing —

Emma Nedov: Again. He drives a Tesla.

Arman Liew: People talk about your dismount being one of the best. I don’t even know if I’m saying it right — a double layout full-out?

Breanna Scott: Double layout full. The only thing I can do on bars is get off the bar.

Emma Nedov: Get up, get off.

Arman Liew: But you get off with style. We’re fast-forwarding a bit, but you took the bars title at nationals this year as well.

Breanna Scott: I think everyone had a bit of a giggle about that, honestly. In previous years I’d go to international competitions and I was not allowed to touch the bar. Everyone was like, Breanna is absolutely not doing bars — you don’t even have to touch the bar to warm up. So I think everyone had a little silent giggle when I won bars at nationals, because it was a bit funny.

Emma Nedov: I want to stick on that for a sec, because I think about it from the perspective of young people who are trying to learn bars, or any apparatus that doesn’t come naturally to them — or maybe their coaches don’t focus on it as much, so they don’t develop it. For me it was vault. I didn’t like vault, and I didn’t do it as often as I probably needed to. I’d cry with my face in my locker to avoid vault. What do you think contributed to bars developing more slowly for you than the others?

Breanna Scott: I don’t know — maybe it just didn’t come as naturally to me. I’ve always been more of a power athlete, so when I was younger it was more floor, and beam a little bit, though beam came a bit later too. I was never a natural bar worker. I’ve always had a bit of fear around bars. Nothing specific, it was just always there. I was always quite scared of everything on bars, and there was a point where I couldn’t dismount at all. I literally would not let go of the bar. I’d do a bar routine and just plop off because I couldn’t dismount.

Arman Liew: And now you’re doing an F dismount.

Breanna Scott: And now the dismount’s the only thing I can do. So there you go — motivation for those out there.

Arman Liew: I think you’re underselling yourself, because it’s not like you’re doing a glide kip and then dismounting. You pack a lot in there. I feel like a score above 12.8 is a good score, and you’re hitting 13s. I saw you at Comm Games — you’re underselling yourself a little bit. It’s great to see how that’s going. And 2025 Worlds — yourself, Kate —

Breanna Scott: Kate, yeah, and Ruby.

Arman Liew: Ruby, that’s who I was thinking of. You’ve had experience with those girls on other teams, but this one was an individual Worlds. You did so well — you made the all-around final and had a really good competition. How was your 2025 World Championships experience?

Breanna Scott: It was a bit of a different one because it wasn’t team-focused. For the couple of years before that, every competition was very team-focused, so it was kind of fun to go to a comp that was just for ourselves, where we could put out whatever we wanted. Kate, Ruby and I had a great time. The three of us were just happy to be there, laughing and joking most of the time. In qualifications I fell on beam, which I was a bit disappointed about, because if I’d stayed on I might have had a chance at a beam final. But I still made the all-around final, which was a nice surprise, and I was able to put together a better performance there. That was my goal for the year — cementing myself as an all-arounder — so I was pretty happy with that.

Emma Nedov: So impressive. I remember when you were talking about whether you wanted to keep training after 2024, and then you come out and smash the all-around. It was like, see, this is what I can do, this is what I didn’t get to show. I was just so happy for you.

Arman Liew: Especially after winning nationals — it showed it wasn’t a fluke. So impressive, especially leading into 2026, which for Australians and anyone in the Commonwealth means the Commonwealth Games — maybe the biggest competition outside the Olympics for these nations.

Emma Nedov: I mean, Worlds is bigger. But the Commonwealth Games is the most widely known, the most media-projected. Which is good — it serves its purpose.

Breanna Scott: Yeah, in the gymnastics world it’s not as big a deal as Worlds or the Olympics. But in terms of major sporting events, there’s quite a bit of coverage.

Emma Nedov: When I was in America while you guys were at Comm Games, they were like, what’s that? Anyway.

Arman Liew: Say that to the British or the Canadians — it’s one of their most beloved events. So at Comm Games you came away as one of the most successful Australian athletes, not just in gymnastics but overall. How was it going into it? You went in as the favourite for beam and all-around — you’d proved yourself at nationals again, and in the preliminary competition you hit everything.

Breanna Scott: There was a lot of pressure, and I definitely had to make sure I wasn’t focusing on it too much. But I think it helped that we as a team had such a big goal of getting team gold — that’s what we were focused on. We each had our own individual goals, but the team gold was so important to us.

Emma Nedov: Can I ask why? That might sound strange, but why was that the most important thing?

Breanna Scott: I don’t know if it was coming off the back of the last Comm Games, where we got silver in Birmingham. In a way we were a bit disappointed with that — which we shouldn’t have been, because we performed well and got a silver medal. But we were so determined to show everyone that we have a strong team. That’s been heavily pushed on us the last few years — that we need to make sure everyone knows Australia has a really strong gymnastics team. We wanted everyone to know that too, and we finally felt like we were in a place where we could do it. We actually believed in ourselves. We wanted to show that Australia can push for team gold at Comm Games and for team finals at Worlds.

Emma Nedov: Is there funding associated with teams more than individuals, do you know? I actually don’t know. I’d speculate it’s more associated with a team.

Breanna Scott: I’m actually not sure.

Emma Nedov: Okay — that’s why I asked.

Arman Liew: It goes back to one of our episodes where it was just the two of us — from an outside perspective, Australia has a reputation for really focusing on the team in gymnastics. That’s always the goal. Jesse said the same for men’s gymnastics. And you and this group of girls at Comm Games were the same team that qualified for the Olympics. Did you talk among yourselves about going for gold, or was it a superstition thing — we’re not going to say it out loud, but deep down that’s the goal?

Breanna Scott: It was a bit of an unspoken thing. We all knew everyone was thinking it, but no one was really saying it out loud. And in the competition we were on vault last, which was the same rotation order we’d had at 2023 Worlds — where we’d had a great comp, got to vault and just messed up. We were struggling. So we had that same rotation order, we’d had a really good comp, and all of us just looked at each other like, oh my god. No one wanted to say it, but we were all panicking going into vault. Do not mess this up. Then we started vault warm-up. I was first, and I messed up my steps and supermanned over the vault table. Then — I can’t remember if Ruby or Emily was next — Emily didn’t have a good warm-up, and Ruby balked. Our coaches were standing on the side like, oh my god, they’re going to stuff this up. We were all freaking out, and poor Kate, who doesn’t vault at all, was on the side watching all of us mess up our warm-ups like, guys, what are you doing?

Arman Liew: Should’ve given her a go.

Breanna Scott: But thankfully, we pulled it together.

Arman Liew: You guys did really well on vault — I feel like you all hit your vaults.

Breanna Scott: Yeah, we did what we needed to do, which was good.

Emma Nedov: I just remember Ruby laughing on that vault. Like, giggling.

Arman Liew: That’s something we have to bring up when we chat with her. I remember watching her laughing — not at falling, she just started laughing in the middle of the routine.

Emma Nedov: Which is so fun to see — that enjoyment. The human side.

Breanna Scott: We had so much fun. I think a big part of why we did as well as we did was because we genuinely had fun, which we hadn’t had at a competition in a really long time. It’s so important. Coming away from that, all of us said the main thing we learned was that we can have fun, and that’s when we give our best performances — when we’re working well as a team and are genuinely happy for each other. I don’t think we’d had that in a long time.

Arman Liew: Do you think the high from the gold gave you that extra pizzazz to absolutely smash the all-around and beam?

Breanna Scott: I was exhausted. But sometimes you can compete well exhausted. To be fair, I didn’t have much time to think about it — it was straight from one to the next. Comm Games is the only comp where we have to do two all-arounds back to back, because the team comp is one day and the all-around final is the next. So if you’re in the all-around, you do it back to back, which is definitely a struggle.

Arman Liew: Did you train that at home?

Breanna Scott: I’d die. I don’t think that’s something you really need to practise. You just do it once and you’re fine.

Arman Liew: Because usually at Worlds there’s a day in between.

Breanna Scott: Yeah, usually there’s a day in between. We didn’t get that, so everyone doing all-around was just like, we’ve just got to get through this.

Arman Liew: Even more impressive. Damn Commonwealth Games budget, cramming everything into a few days.

Emma Nedov: That’s Dan Andrews’ fault.

Arman Liew: We’re coming up to a Victorian election, so we’d better not rock the boat. Although — I should probably not go into it — I saw today that Labor said one of the things they’ll bring in if they’re elected is allowing dogs in pubs.

Emma Nedov: I thought you were going to say something sports-related. Like more funding.

Arman Liew: I don’t really look at any of the political stuff, but when I saw that, I thought, great, we could bring QP to the pub. Anyway, back to Comm Games. You had the all-around and then beam final the next day, or did you have a break?

Breanna Scott: It was all-around, then a day in between with the vault and bars finals, and then beam and floor the next day.

Arman Liew: Did you train on the off day, or just rest and prepare for beam?

Breanna Scott: I think I just rested. I can’t really remember. There was a lot going on, and I was really just on autopilot at that point.

Arman Liew: Because in your beam routines, I feel like you just didn’t mess up. So cool to watch. And I feel like across team final, all-around and event final, you just got better and better — at least the scores said that. I don’t know how you were feeling.

Breanna Scott: I think I probably just got a bit more comfortable. I was definitely freaking out for beam final, though.

Arman Liew: Why?

Breanna Scott: Just the pressure. I try not to read into what people are saying, but obviously I knew in the back of my mind I was the top qualifier coming in, and that always plays on your mind a little bit.

Emma Nedov: Did you have strategies you worked on with Dave, your sports psych?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, I talk to him a lot throughout the whole thing. It’s the same as every comp — not thinking about all that, just doing what I need to do and focusing on myself. I have all my little mental cues that I focus on, which you obviously know all about, because we have the same sports psych.

Emma Nedov: I think it’s so fascinating, because there are actually tangible ways to handle the pressure. You don’t ever become less nervous — arguably you care more, so you become more nervous — but you have to be able to handle it. And as Arman said, the results really showed. It got better and better as you went. It’s so impressive, and it takes strategy and work. It’s not a fluke.

Breanna Scott: Maybe sometimes a little bit — like, thank God I made it through that routine. But it’s been a very long process of learning how to compete. When I made my first team in 2022, I technically had all the skills I have now. I just didn’t know how to compete. I crumbled under pressure sometimes. So it’s been a long road of learning how to deal with pressure and compete properly, and I feel like in the last year or two it’s come together.

Emma Nedov: It’s like an extra apparatus.

Arman Liew: And it’s so undervalued. You saw that first-hand as well, right?

Emma Nedov: Yeah. Remember in our first episode, you asked what makes the best gymnast — is the best gymnast the one who wins? And I said competing in itself is a skill. So that’s interesting.

Arman Liew: And you’ve got the World Championships coming up. Do you know what the Australian team’s goal is, or what your personal goals are?

Breanna Scott: Be able to walk. Make it there in one piece.

Arman Liew: For listeners hearing this for the first time — Bree’s injured her toe.

Breanna Scott: It’s okay, I’m fine.

Arman Liew: Sorry, injured is the wrong word. She’s missing a toenail.

Breanna Scott: I’m down one toenail, but it’s all good. The show goes on.

Arman Liew: Absolutely. You’ve got a couple of weeks before the comp. Do you have goals for this Worlds? It’s the one before the big one — is the Worlds before the Olympic year usually a bit more stressful?

Breanna Scott: Next year is the really stressful one, the big one. But we still have goals as a team this year. We basically want to replicate what we did at Comm Games — hit all our routines. I think the stat from Comm Games was 15 out of 16 hit routines as a team.

Arman Liew: Wow, that’s so impressive.

Breanna Scott: Which is really good. So coming off that, we just want to bring that into Worlds. No, we’re not naming names. We love you, Ruby.

Arman Liew: It was really impressive at Comm Games — it felt like Australia made no errors. It would be great to replicate that at Worlds. Do you have your eyes set on all-around and beam again?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, and hopefully maybe bars. Fingers crossed.

Emma Nedov: Let’s manifest it.

Arman Liew: Every gymnast falls —

Emma Nedov: We’ll have a pea shooter in the audience. Just kidding, we won’t.

Arman Liew: Kaylia Nemour watches this and is looking out for the pea shooter.

Breanna Scott: No — yeah, definitely wanting to do well in the all-around again. They’re sending a team of six to Worlds, and from there they’ll decide the team of five, so we’re not entirely sure on lineups yet. But again, same as Comm Games, the main goal is the team. We’re really pushing for that team final, which I think we’ve proved we have a shot at. If we do what we know we can, I think we have a real chance.

Arman Liew: Something we’ve spoken about in other episodes, and with Jesse, is that what people see at nationals isn’t always what an athlete competes in a team final — Jesse watered his down a bit. I guess we could say the same for your beam at nationals versus Comm Games — some of the connections weren’t there on purpose. It wasn’t that you missed a skill. Do you want to talk us through that?

Breanna Scott: I don’t know if it was on purpose. I think I just wanted to stay on the beam, and without really realising it I just did a safe routine. There are definitely a few more connections and upgrades that’ll be necessary at Worlds, just based on the level of everyone else there. I know I’ll need to do a bit more, so I need to make sure I put in all the connections I’m supposed to do that I sometimes don’t.

Arman Liew: What happens on the day, happens on the day. And talking skills — is there anything we can expect in the lead-up to the Olympics? Any upgrades? A triple layout off bars?

Breanna Scott: Maybe. You never know.

Arman Liew: Or the Scott — your first original skill, on bars of all places.

Breanna Scott: I haven’t started working on the Scott yet, but I could try.

Emma Nedov: When Jesse was here he started talking about his skill, and I was like, I didn’t know you had a skill. Isn’t it on pommel? It’s seriously impressive as well. Anyway.

Arman Liew: So, any new skills?

Breanna Scott: There are a few upgrades in the works — whether for Worlds this year or, more likely, next year. A few floor and beam upgrades. Vault is one I’ve been trying to upgrade for quite a while, and I have the one-and-a-half ready to go when needed, which is good. So we’ll see what happens at Worlds — hopefully we can bring that one out.

Arman Liew: And in the lead-up to the Olympics, is there a possibility we’ll see a double twist from you on vault?

Breanna Scott: I think that possibility is very far off, not gonna lie.

Arman Liew: We were talking about questions we’d ask every gymnast, and for the women we thought we’d ask the double-twisting Yurchenko question. Thank you for clarifying. Maybe a two-and-a-half — skip the double. I can see you having the ability to be a little Australian Simone Biles. Double pike, let’s go.

Breanna Scott: Okay. I’ll start working on the Yurchenko and let you know how it goes.

Emma Nedov: I think you could do that. You heard it here first.

Breanna Scott: Thank you for your belief in me.

Arman Liew: You’re so welcome. Everybody’s going to be watching nationals next year looking out for this double pike. And then you can add a half and call it the Scott.

Breanna Scott: Okay, good idea.

Arman Liew: That’s super exciting. With Worlds and then next year’s Worlds, are you and your coach quite strategic? As we talked about, you’re working on new skills now, but you won’t chuck them out at Worlds — bring them out next year and then peak in 2028. Is that how it goes?

Breanna Scott: The timeline is that we want to put them out there early enough that I have a chance to compete the upgrades and test them in competition before any major comp. That way I’ve had a chance to get used to them in competition, and hopefully they’re cemented and ready to go in my routines for Worlds next year, which is the really important one to qualify a team for the next Olympics.

Arman Liew: And at this Worlds, do you need to place a certain way to qualify, or can you kind of go and have a bit of fun?

Breanna Scott: Don’t look at me — no idea. No, we do have to come in the top something as a team. I think the top three are automatically qualified to LA.

Emma Nedov: Yeah, at this Worlds the top three automatically go to LA.

Arman Liew: Which is probably out of the question for us — but I’m pretty sure Canada came away with a medal one year when everyone said they’d come last, so you never know. Australia might take gold at Worlds. So top three — is that a new rule, or has it become a theme in the last couple of cycles? Is there any new qualification rule this cycle?

Emma Nedov: I don’t know, I’m not the one to ask about rules.

Breanna Scott: I just do as I’m told.

Arman Liew: That’s a good way to be.

Emma Nedov: I actually don’t do as I’m told.

Arman Liew: It’s a big few months and couple of years coming up. You talked about training new skills you want to put out in competition before the major ones — next year, would you consider doing some World Cups?

Breanna Scott: We’re still planning what the start of next year looks like. There are a few different comps GA is deciding on — who’s going to do what — so we’ll see what happens with selection. But definitely either some World Cups or comps early in the year that I want to do to test some things out.

Emma Nedov: Exciting. Obviously we didn’t have a WAG national coach from around 2020 onwards — I don’t actually remember exactly when. Either way, we’ve now got [national coach name]. Do you notice a difference in team selection or processes, now that someone’s actually filling that leadership role?

Breanna Scott: I think it’s been really good for us as a team to have someone guiding us and looking out for our best interests as a team. For a long time it was just individual coaches with their individual athletes, which created a bit of a mess sometimes. So it’s been really good to have someone in that leadership role.

Emma Nedov: It’s a step up.

Arman Liew: How many camps do you go to a year? National training camps?

Breanna Scott: A few. It feels like we’re in Canberra all the time.

Emma Nedov: I guess the next question is — Canberra or Melbourne? Actually, I hate Canberra, not gonna lie. Melbourne or Sydney?

Breanna Scott: Right now I’m liking Melbourne, for where I am in my life. But I do love Sydney — the beaches and all of that.

Arman Liew: And your family are in Sydney?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, my family’s all in Sydney, so I go back there quite a bit.

Emma Nedov: And you moved down here on your own, didn’t you? I think that’s worth sharing.

Arman Liew: When you talked earlier about coming to Melbourne, I assumed you just sent a suitcase down.

Breanna Scott: I drove here by myself from Sydney. Moved out of home. I don’t know why I thought I could do that at the time — looking back, I’m like, how did I do that?

Emma Nedov: Well, look what it’s produced.

Breanna Scott: I definitely had a lot of things to figure out on the way. It’s a long drive, so thank God I’d figured them all out by the time I got there. It was scary. I’d never lived on my own before, and I just packed up everything and moved to Melbourne to train. Luckily my family was so supportive the whole time — they’d do anything to help me, and they helped me through the whole process. They’ve helped me move multiple times here now as well.

Arman Liew: And that was 2023 — luckily not during COVID. But very different to be in a new city. Did you know a lot of people in Melbourne from gymnastics?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, I knew a lot of the girls I trained with at Waverley from camps and comps. And one of my best friends from high school actually lives in Melbourne now, so I had people here, which made it so much easier.

Arman Liew: How have you found cooking for yourself?

Breanna Scott: I’ve gotten better. I hated it. It’s a bit of a chore. Sometimes I’ll realise at six o’clock at training that I haven’t cooked dinner, and I’ll just start crying at training because I have to go home and cook for myself.

Emma Nedov: That’s when you really need your mum.

Breanna Scott: Yeah — actually she recently came down and cooked me a bunch of stuff and put it in the freezer. Mum is so good for that.

Arman Liew: I guess we can segue to the question we ask all our athletes — we asked Jesse and we’ll ask you. People are really curious how you fuel yourself for competition and for everyday training. What does a day on Bree’s plate look like — on the days you’re not running home starving because you didn’t make dinner?

Breanna Scott: I have a coffee in the morning, as any good Melbourne person should. My hyperfixation right now is crumpets with Biscoff, so I have that for breakfast with a coffee.

Emma Nedov: So different from your days of training on air.

Breanna Scott: No, better! I’ve recently realised that if you eat before training, you have energy. Wild.

Arman Liew: You heard it here first.

Breanna Scott: I used to not know that. So thankfully in the last couple of years I’ve realised that if you eat before gym, you can do stuff. So I eat before training. Our morning sessions are the main session — we go from about 8 till 11:45. Then I’ll have lunch, usually eggs and toast or something like that.

Emma Nedov: Avocado brunch.

Breanna Scott: As a great Melbourne person should. And sometimes if I’m feeling really tired, I’ll have another coffee — a pre-arvo-training coffee. So coffee before morning training, coffee after, coffee before arvo training. Three coffees sometimes. No more than three, and only if I’m feeling really tired — which is a lot of the time. Then training, and then dinner, which hopefully, if Mum’s been, is something in the freezer.

Arman Liew: So good. Being in Melbourne — like Sydney — we’ve got such a great food scene. Tough question: what’s your favourite date night or dinner spot?

Breanna Scott: I love Japanese food, so any Japanese restaurant, really.

Arman Liew: So good. Next time we’ll have to take you to Shun, my favourite Japanese place — it’s in Carnegie. I’m really particular about Japanese. I think I’ve tried just about every one in a 20k radius, and most of them aren’t great, but this is a good one. Do you have any good Japanese near you?

Breanna Scott: There’s one in Brighton that’s really good, called Roe.

Arman Liew: Nice, let’s do it. I thought we’d end with a couple of quick rapid-fire questions.

Emma Nedov: Yes — let me get my phone so I can actually read them out. What’s the hardest apparatus, just in general?

Breanna Scott: For me? Shocker — bars.

Arman Liew: And do you think most people would consider bars the hardest apparatus in WAG?

Emma Nedov: I think bars is really hard to train, but I think beam is the hardest to compete.

Breanna Scott: That’s true.

Emma Nedov: But if you don’t have a natural rhythm, bars is really hard to grasp.

Breanna Scott: It takes me about 10 years to learn anything on bars. So in two cycles’ time, we’ll see a new skill.

Arman Liew: If you’re still here in two cycles’ time —

Emma Nedov: Don’t say that!

Arman Liew: You’ve been in Melbourne for a couple of years now — is there any area you really like to go out to or hang out in?

Breanna Scott: The whole time I’ve been here I’ve lived around the same area, so I kind of just stick to that. I had a friend who lived in Fitzroy for a while, which is cool — a bit funky, a lot of cool cafes. I really like trying new cafes.

Emma Nedov: Have you been down the peninsula — Sorrento, Rye?

Breanna Scott: Yeah, I have friends who have a place down there, so I’ve been quite a bit.

Arman Liew: Convenient.

Emma Nedov: That’s the only place near Melbourne you get good beaches. There aren’t many in the inner city. I’m going to Sorrento for — oh, you’ll be at Worlds. Damn. Okay — who’s your favourite gymnast? Did you ever have an idol?

Breanna Scott: Emma Nedov.

Emma Nedov: Oh, thank you! You heard it here first — when you were that 11-year-old in New South Wales, you saw Emma strutting around and thought, that’s what I want to be. Oh gosh, I hope I’m a better representation now. I wasn’t that bad — I make it sound like I was horrible. I was just very in my own lane. But do you have an idol — any gymnast you looked up to, other than me, of course?

Breanna Scott: I don’t think I ever had one specific gymnast I idolised. It was more everyone at that top level — I just really liked watching what they were doing, how I could do that, and what they were doing that was similar to me.

Emma Nedov: Did you ever watch Emily Little?

Breanna Scott: She was a bit before my time, I think, but I’ve obviously watched some of her stuff now.

Arman Liew: She was from Western Australia — vault and floor. She did have a double-twisting Yurchenko, so we need to get her on to answer that question. But her style of gymnastics was similar to yours — very powerful, very technically beautiful. She was doing a full-twisting double layout on floor. Anyway, just a thought. So we’ll see you doing a full-twisting double layout on floor soon?

Breanna Scott: Hopefully soon. I actually am working on it.

Emma Nedov: Oh, great!

Arman Liew: Final question: are there any up-and-comers in Australian gymnastics you reckon we should keep an eye on — a junior, a level 10, a new senior?

Breanna Scott: I think the whole program in Australia right now is actually starting to be something. For a while it felt like there was a bit of a gap in the younger ones coming through, but I think now we’ve got a good group of newer seniors and juniors coming through who can hopefully keep building on what we’ve started.

Emma Nedov: I think it’s a cool time, because there’s more access now, and being able to watch gives you the drive and motivation to know you can achieve it too. You guys qualifying a team to the Olympic Games was so inspiring for the younger generations, because it made it possible again. I’m going to throw a question in. I know you love your fragrances. Do you have a competition fragrance?

Breanna Scott: I don’t have a competition fragrance, but each time we travel, I buy a new fragrance for that trip. I use the same perfume the entire trip, and once it’s over, I stop using it. Then when you smell it again, it reminds you of the trip, because smell is such a distinct sense — it actually provokes the memory. I’ve done it since 2022.

Arman Liew: Is there any you’ve thrown out — like, I don’t want to smell this one, I don’t want to remember that one? And do you buy it before you go, or is it like, I’m in France, this is my French fragrance?

Breanna Scott: Sometimes we do that. Ruby and I have a bit of a habit — we’re really bad shoppers together. We’re very bad influences on each other. There have been a few times we’re away and both go, oh, actually, we want that, and we both buy something a bit too expensive. Let’s see what the shopping is like in Rotterdam.

Arman Liew: We’ve got to get you some fragrance sponsors. That’d be a dream collaboration — fragrance, or even beauty. Mecca, I could see Mecca. This has been such a great chat. I feel like we could keep chatting for hours and keep coaching you from the couch over here, which we’ll stop doing. We’re really thankful you came today — I know you’re so busy going into Worlds — and I think our audience is really going to appreciate getting to know you a bit better.

Breanna Scott: Thanks for having me.

Emma Nedov: You’re so welcome, and good luck with your toe. You’ve got about a week before staging camp. But really, I’ve gotten to watch you grow into the sport and into yourself, and hearing everything you’ve said is so inspiring. I’m very excited to see where you go from here, because I feel like you’re on this upward trajectory. It’s very impressive.

Breanna Scott: Thanks.

Arman Liew: We’ll be keeping an eye on Worlds, watching all the routines — maybe even live-watching yours — and cheering you on with the rest of the country. Can’t wait to see what you and the Australian team do. Thanks so much for listening, guys, and we’ll see you on the next episode.