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World championships the start for Rosie MacLennan's quest for 3rd Olympic trampoline gold

Two-time Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan leads Canada's women and men into this week's trampoline and tumbling world championships at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, where the 2020 Summer Games competition will be contested.

31-year-old leads Canada into qualifier for Tokyo 2020

Doug Harrison · CBC Sports ·
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Rosie MacLennan leads Canada's women and men into the trampoline and tumbling world championship in Tokyo. (David Ramos/Getty Images/File)

A healthy Rosie MacLennan is prepared to compete for an Olympic spot for Canada's women this week in the building where she hopes to win her third Summer Games gold medal next July in Tokyo.

The 31-year-old from King City, Ont., leads the Canadian contingent into the trampoline and tumbling world championships, which begin Thursday at Ariake Gymnastics Centre, seven months after breaking an ankle at a World Cup event in Belarus.

CBC Sports is live streaming the event starting Friday at 3 a.m. ET.

MacLennan returned to competition in September, placing 18th against a strong field in the individual event at a World Cup in Russia and eighth in the synchronized finals with Sarah Milette of Montreal.

"I think I have a lot more left in me, more that I want to accomplish," MacLennan wrote in a Player's Own Voice story for CBC Sports ahead of last year's worlds in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the two-time world champion finished first in the individual event for the first time since 2013. She also won silver with Milette in women's synchro and bronze in the team competition.

"I've found a career that I am passionate about and I am good at, why would I consider retiring now?"

Chartier, Smith win Pan Am gold

MacLennan, who recently earned a master's degree focusing on athletes' rights and responsibilities, is the only athlete to win consecutive Olympic gold in trampoline, achieving the feat in London (2012) and Rio (2016).

At a World Cup last month in Valladolid, Spain, Milette was the lone Canadian to qualify for the individual finals and finished sixth to secure Olympic qualification points.

At the same event, Montreal's Jérémy Chartier, a Pan Am gold medallist three months ago in Peru with teammate Samantha Smith, earned synchro silver with 2008 Olympic silver medallist Jason Burnett of King Township, Ont.

Montreal's Jeremy Chartier, a Pan Am gold medallist in August, was the top Canadian male the following month at 18th in the individual competition at a World Cup event in Russia. (Fernando Vergara/Associated Press)

Smith claimed bronze with synchro partner Rachel Tam of Toronto, who was named an alternate on the women's team for worlds. In September, Smith placed 23rd in the individual event at a World Cup in Russia.

Chartier, 18, was top Canadian on the men's side at 18th in the individual competition.

In the synchro finals, Keegan Soehn of Red Deer, Alta., and Nathan Shuh of Elmira, Ont., were seventh and make up half of the men's individual team this week in Tokyo.

Fans at this week's trampoline and tumbling world championships will sit on specially crafted wooden benches made of cedar at the 12,000-seat Ariake Gymnastics Centre. (Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images)

The highest-ranked athletes from this season's World Cup series will clinch an Olympic berth for their country.

"We are looking to build off our recent international success and earning Olympic quotas in trampoline," Karen Cockburn, national team director for trampoline at Gymnastics Canada, said recently.

"These world championships will give our athletes the opportunity to see and compete in the Olympic venue while perfecting their routines as we enter this important Olympic year."

In double mini-trampoline and tumbling, Jon Schwaiger of Ancaster, Ont., will attempt to advance to a third straight World Games in both disciplines for the 2021 event in Birmingham, Ala.

Jordan Sugrim of Brampton, Ont., is also looking to return to the World Games after a fifth-place performance in tumbling at the 2017 World Games in Poland.

Two-time senior Canadian champion Jordyn Miller-Burko of Hamilton goes for her first World Games berth in DMT.

Canada roster

Individual trampoline – women

  • Rosie MacLennan, King City, Ont.
  • Sarah Milette, Longueuil, Que.
  • Sophiane Methot, La Prairie, Que.
  • Samantha Smith, Vancouver
  • Alternate: Rachel Tam, Toronto

Individual trampoline – men

  • Jeremy Chartier, Montreal
  • Jason Burnett, King Township, Ont.
  • Keegan Soehn, Red Deer, Alta.
  • Nathan Shuh – Elmira, Ont.

Synchronized trampoline – women

  • Rosie MacLennan and Sarah Milette
  • Samantha Smith and Rachel Tam

Synchro trampoline – men

  • Jason Burnett and Jeremy Chartier
  • Keegan Soehn and Nathan Shuh

Tumbling – women

  • Jordan Sugrim, Brampton, Ont.
  • Zoe Hipel, Aurora, Ont.

Tumbling – men

  • Jon Schwaiger, Caledonia, Ont.
  • Callum Sundquist, Sherwood Park, Alta.
  • Antonio Fernandes, Calgary

Double mini-trampoline – women

  • Jordyn Miller- Burko, Hamilton
  • Laurence Roux, Blainville, Que.
  • Danielle Grieve, Regina
  • Kalena Soehn, Red Deer, Alta.
  • Alternate: Haley Nakonechni, Emerald Park, Sask.

Double mini-trampoline – men

  • Jon Schwaiger
  • Mario Bruno, Kamloops, B.C.
  • Callum Sundquist
  • Emile Chateauvert, Boisbriand, Que.
  • Alternate: Mark Armstrong, Red Deer, Alta.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doug Harrison

Doug Harrison has covered the professional and amateur scene as a senior writer for CBC Sports since 2003. Previously, the Burlington, Ont., native covered the NHL and other leagues for Faceoff.com. Follow the award-winning journalist @harrisoncbc

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