Unusual Olympic Sport of the Day:

The trampoline, an apparatus found primarily in the backyards of

suburban family households, has carved its way into the Olympic

Games over the past several years. Since its introduction to the

Olympics in 2000 at Sydney, the trampoline has gained popularity

amongst men and women gymnasts from around the world. Sixteen men

and 16 women competed in this year’s trampoline event. The

competition consisted of two phases- the qualifications and the

finals. During qualifications, participants performed two routines

and during finals they performed one routine. A panel of nine

judges evaluated the competitors’ routines based on difficulty and

execution. Germany’s Anna Dogonadze took home the women’s gold

medal, while the Ukraine’s Yuri Nikitin took home the men’s gold

medal. For more information about gymnastics trampoline, visit

http://www.athens2004.com/en/Trampoline.

Quick Facts:

-The trampoline dates back to 1800.

-The term “trampoline” was first used in the early 1800s by

Hughes Circus in London, who called one of its attractions “the

trampoline jump”.

-The trampoline began to achieve worldwide popularity around

1900.

-In the early 1900s, University of Iowa gymnast Larry Griswold

devised the first ever competition format for a trampoline. This

was a big step toward legitimizing the trampoline as an actual

sport.

-In 1964, the International Trampoline Federation was

founded.