Trampoline was trending after Bryony Page made history for Great Britain winning their first ever medal at a world level trampolining event and people were amazed with how much they loved watching the women compete.
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Training with the Richmond Hill-based Skyriders Trampoline Place, the 27-year-old MacLennan accomplished that memorable feat after recording a score of 56.465 in her final routine.
As for what got her going, Canada’s flag bearer during the opening ceremonies attributed it to her ability to remain focused on the task at hand.
She sustained the injury last summer ahead of the Pan Am Games, but amazingly persevered to win gold in Toronto. But her second series of flips, twists and somersaults earned the second-highest score of the afternoon, and sent her into the medal round ranked third overall.
“I couldn’t be more proud”.
Rosie MacLennan is the only athlete to win gold twice in women’s trampoline at the Olympics. The past two gold medals have been won by Chinese gymnasts.
The men’s trampoline qualifying and final for the 2016 Olympics are set for Saturday in Rio.
Other athletes to watch are Uladzislau Hancharou of Belarus, the 2015 World Championships silver medalist who will be one of the youngest in the field at age 20.
Then there was Brony Page, who broke down in tears of joy and shock when she realized she’d won a silver medal.
MacLennan’s decision to scale back and let her brain heal paid off. She won bronze in Beijing in 2008. It’s not the most telegenic thing unless you have someone in the chase – trampoline can look the same to people, unless you know what to look for.
It is fair to say not many of her rivals will have split their time between bouncing and twisting on a trampoline and studying dinosaurs.
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For the sake of Canada’s future Olympians, here’s hoping MacLennan is around for a long time. As MacLennan said, “The journey to get back here was a tough one, and I would have been so grateful for any outcome”.
