Gymnastics Canada  – RIO DE JANEIRO, BRA (August 12, 2016) – History was made at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games today, as Rosie MacLennan from King City, ON became the first ever trampoline athlete to defend her Olympic title.  She also becomes the first Canadian Summer Olympian in any discipline to win back-to-back gold medals.

MacLennan, who was Canada’s only gold medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, sat in 3rd place following the qualification round with a score of 103.130, just over one point back of the leader. 

“There was some pressure, there was some expectation, that’s for sure but I don’t think there’s more pressure on any athlete than what they put on themselves,” said MacLennan about qualifying for the finals, “I was really just trying to keep in mind my family, my friends and the journey and how grateful am to even be here.”

In the finals, MacLennan chose not to compete her more difficult routine sticking with what she knew was her more consistent performance. “I held back, I did my easier routine, I was a lot more confident in it. The other one was a little shaky and we knew it would be a bit of a gamble,” said MacLennan following competition. “The Olympics isn’t a time to gamble. I was really happy with how it went.”

MacLennan scored 56.465 points in the final to capture her second consecutive Olympic gold medal.  Bryony Page of Great Britain won silver scoring 56.040 points and Dan Li of China rounded out the podium winning the bronze medal with 55.885 points.

When asked how it felt to be Olympic champion for the second time, MacLennan smiled; “It feels incredible. I don’t know how it compares but just absolutely amazing. I was so gracious to have the opportunity to come out and compete among such a strong group of women. I couldn’t be more excited or more proud to have been able to stand on top of the podium again.”

The road to defending her gold medal wasn’t an easy one for MacLennan. She suffered from a concussion earlier in the year and had to work hard to get back to her high performance level. MacLennan’s coach Dave Ross supported her through her recovery and her journey to becoming a repeat Olympic champion. Ross has coached Canadian trampoline athletes to seven Olympic medals, one at every Olympics since trampoline was introduced at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Canada will hit the trampoline again on Saturday when Jason Burnett of Toronto, ON competes at 1400 BT.

 

For full results, visit: https://live.fig-gymnastics.com/schedule.php?idevent=6405

Click here for the broadcast schedule: http://olympics.cbc.ca/online-listing/

 

ABOUT GYMNASTICS CANADA

First established in 1969, Gymnastics Canada is the national governing body for the sport of gymnastics in Canada. Gymnastics Canada works closely with the twelve Provincial Federations and the 700 local clubs to provide a broad range of programs and services to meet the needs of all participants. From athlete development, to coaching and judging education, Gymnastics Canada sets the operating standards and practices for the sport in Canada. Our mandate is to promote and provide positive and diverse gymnastics experience through the delivery of quality and safe gymnastics programming. Visit www.gymcan.org for more information, or follow us @CDNgymnastics.

 

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For more information, contact:

Julie Forget
Director, Communications and Marketing
Gymnastics Canada 
Cell: 819.210.2064
Email: jforget@gymcan.org