31. Juli 2021  
Tokyo, JPN  
Trampoline

TOKYO 2020 - TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS

For the sixth time since the Olympic premiere in 2000 in Sydney, TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS (men & women) is part of the Olympic program, also now at the 32nd Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo. In the Olympic men's final the Belarusian top qualifier Ivan LITVINOVICH has edged Chinese veteran DONG Dong to win gold. Young "Kiwi" Dylan SCHMIDT from Auckland/New Zealand, who placed 7th at the Olympic Games in Rio, won now a surprise bronze medal, in front of the fourth placed 2016 Olympic Champion Vladislau Hancharou less than a tenth of a point...!
 ZHU Xueying (right) from China soared to new heights to win gold in the women’s trampoline gymnastics for the People’s Republic of China to the second time after HE, Wenna in Beijing 2008. In a highly competitive final, the 23-year-old executed a series of superb twists, bounces and somersaults to finish top of the leaderboard with 56.635 points.
The brilliant routine denied competition favourite, Canada’s Rosannagh MacLennan, her third Olympic gold in the event. The 32-year-old finished just outside the medals in fourth on 55.460.
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The Canadian gymnast had been in the bronze medal position and had an agonising wait until Zhu, a former Youth Olympics champion, who was the last competitor, performed her routine. Her Chinese teammate, LIU Lingling (26; left) won silver with a score of 56.350 at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on 30 July. Both Chinese athletes had qualified first and second out of a field of 16 going into the final. It was the first time one country has won gold and silver in the women's trampoline gymnastics at an Olympics.
The bronze went to a delighted Great Britain’s Bryony PAGE (30) who won silver in Rio 2016 with 55.735. The big upset of the event was world number three, Japan’s MORI Hikaru, 22, did not appear in the final after she failed to complete her second routine in the qualifying round. Her teammate, UYAMA Megu, came fifth on 54.655.
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♦ The men's competition finished the sixth Olympic Trampoline decisions in history, Saturday July 31 ...:

* FIG PREVIEW:
Rio 2016 Trampoline champion Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR) has waited five years for another chance at Olympic glory. Dong Dong (CHN) is trying to extend his own Olympic record. After bronze in 2016, Gao Lei (CHN) is taking a second shot at gold. And Ivan Litvinovich (BLR), second at the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, hopes to one up himself in his return to the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.
Their stories converge Saturday, when the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion in men’s Trampoline will be decided. This 16-person field does not lack strong contenders.
The alpha gymnast of his sport for the past five years, Gao has upstaged all challengers at the past four World Championships. With gold in 2012, silver in 2016 and bronze in 2008, Dong is the only gymnast to have collected a full set of Olympic colours, and a fourth medal would gild his legacy even further.
Hancharou, who upset Gao and Dong to become the first non-Chinese Olympic champion since 2004, is back for more, while Litvinovich, just 20, is exactly where Hancharou was five years ago: a talented reigning World silver medallist, looking to play spoiler.
Part of the Olympic programme since 2000, Trampoline is the youngest Gymnastics discipline at the Games, and no nation has been more successful on the Olympic stage than the People’s Republic of China, which has won 11 of the 30 Olympic medals presented in the discipline, more than any other nation. Three of those 11 belong to Dong.
* How it will play out:
Trampoline gymnasts must perform each of the 10 elements in their routines without stopping or taking extra bounces between skills. If they do, or if they “crash out” onto the mats around the trampoline, the routine is over and they do not get a second chance.
Like in Artistic & Rhythmic Gymnastics, Trampoline gymnasts are judged on the difficulty of their routines and how well their elements are executed, but that is not all. Also taken into account is how centered they are on the trampoline as they land each skill (known as horizontal displacement) and how much time they spend in the air (time of flight), which is measured by a special device under the apparatus.
Gymnasts will perform two exercises in the qualifying round. The first routine is simpler, with special requirements designed to show judges that the gymnast has mastered the basics. The gymnast’s maximum potential is unleashed during the high-flying second routine, known as the voluntary exercise, where daring and difficulty plays a much larger role. The top eight following these two exercises advance to the final, where gymnasts perform only their voluntary exercise. Scores from the preliminary do not carry over.
* Look out for:
The incredible vertical flight gymnasts attain above the trampoline. A trampolinist can bounce up to eight meters in the air, the height of a three story building.

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