What is Trampoline?
Trampoline is a breathtaking sport that can see athletes bounce over 8 metres in the air while performing a series of complex twists and somersaults. As it is a highly technical sport, trampolinists are required to have an exceptional sense of balance and absolute precision.
By whom, where and when was Trampoline invented?
The first modern trampoline was built by George Nissen and Larry Griswold around 1934 at the University of Iowa. It was initially used to train tumblers and astronauts, and as a training tool to develop and hone acrobatic skills for other sports such as diving, gymnastics and freestyle skiing. People enjoyed the sensation so much, they began to trampoline for sheer fun, and it became popular in its own right.
Nissen and Griswold envisaged trampolines being used in a variety of new games, although they never grabbed the public’s imagination. In one, called Spaceball, two teams of two on a single trampoline with specially constructed end walls attempted to propel a ball through a middle wall, to hit a target on the other side’s end wall.
What are the rules of Trampoline?
Trampoline gymnastics utilises four main categories of score: execution, difficulty, horizontal displacement and time of flight.
World-class competitions include two different routines in the qualifying competition that feature 10 judged elements. In the finals, the gymnasts perform one routine which can be the same or different from qualifying.
The gymnasts also receive an execution score based on how well each element is performed, a time of flight score that calculates the amount of time the gymnast spends in the air and a horizontal displacement score which is based off the gymnast’s ability to stay in the middle of the trampoline.
What are the different jumps in Trampoline?
Gymnasts perform both forward and backward flipping elements in Olympic trampoline. Several comment elements include a Triffus (triple front somersault with at least a half twist) and a Miller (a double back flip with three twists).
Trampoline and the Olympics
Trampolining made its first appearance at the 2000 Games in Sydney, with men’s and women’s competitions. The number of events (two) has remained unchanged since then.
Best Trampoline gymnasts to watch
Since Trampoline was first included on the programme of the Olympic Games Sydney 2000, Chinese athletes have claimed 14 of the 36 medals available.
Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Zhu Xueying of People's Republic of China and Canada’s Rosie MacLennan. Including the rising Chinese star Cao Yunzhu, who claimed silver at the 2021 World Championships at the age of 17.
The winner at the Worlds was two-time Olympic medallist Bryony Page from Great Britain. The 31-year-old has also won a stage in this year’s World Cup, as have Doihata Chisato of Japan and Cheyenne Sarah Webster of the USA, and she also won the Trampoline European Championships in 2022.
After the retirement of Chinese four-time Olympic medallist Dong Dong, Nishioka Ryusei of Japan and Diogo Abreu of Portugal have performed well in the 2022 World Cup series in the men’s competition - particularly the 18-year-old Japanese star who won silver at the 2021 World Championship.
The current world champion Yan Langyu of People’s Republic of China and the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Dylan Schmidt of New Zealand are also ones to keep a close eye on.
Trampoline Competition Rules at Paris 2024
A total of 32 athletes, 16 per gender, competed in the trampoline events at Paris 2024. One quota across both genders was allocated to the host country and another to the Universality place.
A maximum of three NOCs could receive two quota places per gender. The remaining NOCs received a maximum of one quota place per gender.
All athletes participating had to be born on or before 31 December 2007.
