Canadians set to bounce into trampoline world championships
Samantha Smith and Keegan Soehn headline a team of 13 Canadians headed to Sofia, Bulgaria for the FIG Trampoline World Championships, November 9-12.
Following the withdrawal of two-time Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan, who is nursing a lingering neck injury, it might just be Smith’s time to shine. Responsible for Canada’s best individual World Cup result this season with her fifth-place finish in Loulé, Portugal in September, Smith is also the reigning Pacific Rim champion and was a finalist at the 2014 World Championships.
Joining her in the women’s individual trampoline event will be: Sophiane Méthot, the 2015 World Age Group champion (17-18) and 2016 Pan American champion; Sarah Milette, who first joined the national team last year; and Bronte Dundas, named as MacLennan’s replacement and in her first season of international competition.
Canada’s lone competitor in the men’s individual event will be Keegan Soehn. The alternate for Rio 2016 is a two-time champion at the Pan American Games, including Toronto 2015.
Team Canada’s Keegan Soehn performs in the men’s individual trampoline at the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
The individual trampoline competition will begin with two qualifying routines on Day 1 of competition (November 9). The top 24 highest combined scores, with a maximum of three per country, advance to the semifinals. Three days later the semifinalists perform one routine each, and the top eight, maximum two per country, advance to the final. One more routine by each will determine the champion.
In addition to the individual trampoline, the world championships feature some exciting events that are not on the Olympic program.
In the synchronized competition, as the name suggests, two trampolinists complete matching routines on side-by side trampolines.
In the double-mini competition, gymnasts run down a runway, then perform two elements while bouncing off a two-tiered miniature trampoline.
In the tumbling competition, athletes perform eight consecutive elements in rapid succession while moving down a runway, like what you may see in a Cirque du Soleil show.
All the action from the worlds will be streamed live on the FIG YouTube Chanel. The weekend events will be streamed on cbcsports.ca and the trampoline finals will be broadcast Sunday on CBC TV. The full program and results can be found at live.fig-gymnastics.com.
Check out the full Team Canada roster below:
Individual Trampoline – Women
Sophiane Méthot
Sarah Milette
Samantha Smith
Bronte Dundas
Individual Trampoline – Men
Keegan Soehn
Synchronized Trampoline – Women (non-Olympic event)
Sophiane Méthot
Sarah Milette
Samantha Smith
Rachel Tam
Tumbling – Women (non-Olympic event)
Jordan Sugrim
Tumbling – Men (non-Olympic event)
Jon Schwaiger
Double-Mini Trampoline – Women (non-Olympic event)
Jordyn Miller-Burko
Karine Dufour
Danielle Grieve
Double-Mini Trampoline – Men (non-Olympic event)
Jon Schwaiger
Mark Armstrong
