Trampoline Gymnastics

Trampoline Gymnastics is quite a recent discipline that made its entry in Olympics at the Sydney Olympics 2000. It is a stunning game, where athletes showcase their moves aesthetically, thus providing full entertainment to the spectators. At London Olympics 2012, Trampoline Gymnastics is scheduled from Friday 3 August to Saturday 4 August, 2012 at North Greenwich Arena. There will be 32 athletes (16 men and 16 women) competing for two medal events - one for men's competition and another for women's competition. Each country can send only four representatives such as two men and two women. Though Trampoline Gymnastics was originated in 1930s at the University of Iowa, it was primarily used to train astronauts, athletes, and tumblers. With time, it became immensely popular in World Championships and later on in Olympic Games. Trampoline Gymnastics illustrates a beautiful blend of artistic skills and acrobatic fineness, where athletes jump up to the height of 10 meters!

Trampoline Gymnastics Rules And Regulations

The Basics
Trampoline Gymnastics involves a performance of a series of 10 skill routines with a diversity of single, double and triple somersaults, with and without twists. Athletes are required to master defined techniques, fly smoothly through the air and have a perfect body control to achieve success in this thrilling sport. The athletes should finish their performances in an upright position with both feet on the trampoline bed. They must stop the bed moving entirely and hold this still position for three seconds before they move. Judges give scores based on certain criteria such as the level of difficulty, style of execution and timings after deducting the penalties. The highest and lowest execution scores are eliminated and the three remaining scores are aggregated to the single rating. The best eight scorers with highest points from the qualification round are selected for the final round to perform another optional routine. Athlete with the highest score wins the gold!

Field Of Play
The sport of Trampoline Gymnastics consists of two trampolines placed besides each other, that is, 2m apart. Both these trampolines are 10m away from the judging panel. Each trampoline measures 5.05m in length, 2.91m in width and 1.155m in height. The bed is made up of nylon or string material and is woven with strips that are less than 6mm thick, and is firmly attached to the frame with more than 100 steel springs. Men and women may compete either in socks or in gym shoes. A thick large mat, called 'the safety platform', is placed on the floor at either end of the trampoline to lessen the force if any athlete falls down the trampoline.

Qualifications And Disqualifications
During Olympics, for both men and women athletes, individual competitions (qualifications and finals) are organized. Entry for the competitions is based on the qualifications. If any athlete is seen misbehaving or deviating from the rules and regulations, he/she is given warning by the Chair of Judges Panel and/or Superior Jury, and/or the other concerned authority. If the delinquency is repeated, the athlete may even be disqualified from the competition. The Executive Committee or Disciplinary Commission has the authority to take further penalizing actions if required.

Trampoline Gymnastics History
Originated in 1934, trampolines were formerly used to train astronauts, tumblers, and athletes to sharpen their acrobatic skills for other sports like gymnastics, diving and freestyle skiing. Trampolines became so popular that they soon found their place at World Championships and now in Olympics. The first modern trampoline was built by George Nissen and Larry Griswold around 1934 at the University of Iowa. People took so much pleasure in bouncing up and down that it got converted into a full-fledged sport. Trampoline Gymnastics was first featured in Olympics at the Sydney Olympics 2000, both with men's and women's competitions. Since Olympics 2000 Games, the number of events (two) has remained the same.