GYMNASTICS: China has lived up to its powerhouse reputation by winning gold in both the women and men’s individual trampoline competitions at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on Saturday.

Yujie Jia began China’s medal grab by bouncing to success in the women’s event, scoring 151.360 points. Falling just behind was her teammate Jingjing Wen with 148.720, despite finishing with a strong final routine of 53.840. New Zealand’s Alexa Kennedy (141.515) rounded out the podium.

In the men’s event, Changxin Liu’s second routine pushed him through to gold with a score of 58.065, which was the highest individual routine score of the competition. Yet it was his final performance that sealed the deal, stealing gold off New Zealand’s Dylan Schmidt in the very last routine of the day.  China’s Quan Zhou (152.205) joined them on the dais.

Schmidt, who recently won the 2012 Pacific Rim Championships, still managed to complete the highest scoring difficulty routine in his second and third performances, with 15.00 in both.

The 16-year-old admitted that he was disappointed with silver, after performing three consistently solid routines, finishing overall with 158.715.

“I’m gutted I came second, but I knew that the Chinese were going to be good. I got a personal best, so I can’t be angry at that,” the Auckland-born gymnast said.

His compatriot, Alexa Kennedy, said she “could not be happier” with winning bronze in the women’s event.

“Training has been so hard, but I think it has paid off,” the 13-year-old said.

Brittany Lane
Olympics.com.au

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