GYMNASTICS: Dominic Clarke has made his Olympic debut today, the Australian Trampoline gymnast qualifying for the individual final, the first Australian male athlete to reach a Trampoline final since 2000.
Clarke was looking relaxed as he walked out into the Ariake Gymnastics Centre and onto the competition floor. His recent form had been top notch, earning his Olympic spot through the World Cup Circuit after he and fellow trampoline gymnast Jessica Pickering were able to travel to Brescia, Italy to compete in the final qualification events for 2021.
Always smiling, Clarke was 8th to compete in the first rotation of athletes, the field of 16 including Chinese Trampoline legend Dong Dong. In the first compulsory routine, Clarke put together a great routine that was strong from the outset, earning a 52.130 to be placed 8th. Needing to remain in the top eight to go through the final, Clarke would up the ante for the second voluntary jump.
Clarke didn’t seem to be feeling the pressure and went into his second jump with style, completing the routine that was given a difficulty score more than three times higher than his before earning 59.550 from the judges to rank 5th overall at the end of the qualification round.
“I’m over the moon. I could not be prouder of my performance,” Clarke said.
“It’s the best performance I’ve put up all year and it literally just came down to me having fun on the floor. I set out what I wanted to do in prelims, exceeded my expectations to be in the finals was a bonus and the energy down there and watching everyone compete was so much fun.”
Gaining his spot in early June, Clarke spent time at a Portugal training camp before making his way to Tokyo, his Olympic campaign racking up nearly three months overseas by the time he returns to Australia thanks to the ongoing pandemic challenges.
But the complex situation didn’t faze Clarke who has embraced every moment of the Olympic experience, the most successful male Trampoline Olympic athlete since Jai Wallace who won a silver medal in 2000.
“It been such a long process to get here, truly, there has been ups and downs, competitions where I’ve cried, where it’s been really serious but it’s the Olympics, we are all here to have fun.
“There is no competition after this, this is it so if you don’t enjoy the experience, what are you doing here?! One of my best friends, Dylan (Schmidt), we have trained together since we were 7, he just won bronze, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
While Clarke was in fine form going into the final shortly after the qualifying round, unfortunately a mistake late in his final routine resulted in him misjudging a connection and landing on the mats. While the mistake resulted in a low score of 24.955, Clarke was thrilled with his overall experience and performance.
“My routine wasn’t exactly perfect, but I was just so proud of what I did, the fact that I got there and had so much fun on the floor was just the cherry on top,” Clarke said.
“I didn’t have the best year consistency wise so my mantra going into it was ‘you’re a showman, just put on a show’ and that’s what I did. I got out there and performed, peaked as early as I could, did everything as hard as I could and you know what, it turned out the way I wanted it to. I was really happy with that.”
Always smiling, Clarke has loved every minute of his Tokyo 2020 campaign and is already thinking about what his next career move might be.
“2024 is only three years away. The Olympics is better than I ever could have imagined so I’d love to compete in another one.”
But now that his time in Japan is nearly over, Clarke is looking forward to soaking up the short time he has left in the village and has more immediate priorities.
“I’m going to have a cupcake when I get back to the dining hall!” He laughed.
“I won’t be jumping for a little while, so I’m just really keen to soak up the rest of the Olympic experience.”
Shannon Knaus
