MacLennan bounces to berth in Rio Olympics

December 2, 2015 · 0 Comments

King’s Rosie MacLennan qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio with a fourth place finish at the 2015 World Trampoline Championships in Denmark.
Photo from Twitter

By Jake Courtepatte
It may not have been the outcome she desired, but Canada’s trampoline champion has officially earned her spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
King City’s Rosie MacLennan was left off the podium in last weekend’s World Trampoline Championships, having earned silver and gold in the annual competition over the last two years respectively.
But her fourth-place finish at the event in Odense, Denmark did secure her a position on Team Canada in Rio, needing only to finish in the top eight in semifinals of individual trampoline.
“It obviously wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for, but it’s reassuring to know I’m guaranteed for Rio,” said the 2012 Olympic gold medal winner on Monday. “Now I can just focus on that.”
The 27-year-old just missed the podium with a final score of 55.505 points in the final round. Piatrenia Tatsiana of Belarus earned the bronze with 55.665, while Chinese teammates Liu Lingling (55.755) and Li Dan (56.600) picked up the silver and bronze.
Despite missing the podium on the sport’s second biggest stage, MacLennan will still be a favourite to win gold next summer as the reigning Olympic champ.
“The sport of trampoline is always becoming more and more advanced; you have to learn to adapt with it.”
MacLennan’s training schedule took a turn for the worse when she suffered a concussion while training in July, although she still earned gold in the Pan Am Games that month.
“Every day that I couldn’t train I had to adapt. My schedules can be really strict, so switching from my normal training routines can be pretty difficult.”
Her veteran teammate, Stouffville’s Karen Cockburn, finished 24th in the semifinals.
“My optional routine was a rough one today,” said the 35-year-old in a Gymnastics Canada press release.
Aurora’s Samantha Sendel just missed advancing out of the qualification round with a score of 95.385.
King Township’s male trampoline star, Jason Burnett of Nobleton, finished 18th in the semifinal round of the men’s individual competition.