Trampoline...Really?!

So as most of the country is swept up in the latest patriotic craze...the Olympics....I'm finding myself getting bored with it - but despite the boredom, I still manage to tune in just to see what's going on. I've noticed that swimming and gymnastics - usually two of the more popular Olympic sports, takes up the first full week and the highlight of the second week is usually the track and field.

One of my favorites, volleyball (both team and beach), runs throughout the two weeks as it's more of a tournament type of play and I get really excited when I'm able to catch a Team USA game. But I'm at the mercy of the broadcasting stations to schedule it in...thankfully Misty May and Kerri Walsh are the top women's team in the world so their games are pretty much guaranteed to be on.

But after Michael Phelps dominates the swimming competition, gymnastics winds down to the individual contests and track/field is just getting started with their preliminary races, what sports do you show to fill in those gaps? Trampoline...Really.

I didn't even know it was an Olympic sport..it's not listed under the Sports section for the Yahoo! Olympics coverage. But sure enough - there it was, on NBC, the other night....women in leotards, jumping and twisting their way into the hearts of millions. Did they win me over? Not quite.

There didn't seem to be anyone from the US competing...surprised? Not really. The world trampoline champion comes from China...no surprise there either. The idea behind it is that there is a rectangle outlined within a rectangle trampoline with a big '+' in the middle - that's the target - it is where the person (would they be a trampolinist?) should always aspire to land between their "tricks" in the air, while trying not to land outside of the rectangle border or the trampoline itself. For the most part, everyone stayed within the rectangles. The champion from China did great until the end, where the commentators said she "lost control." Where do these commentators come from and are they trampoline experts, by chance?


I thought that these trampoline people were gymnastic rejects - sure they could do all the twist and turns in the air but perhaps they had trouble with landing. It's not like they have to dismount off the trampoline. In fact, the end of a routine is pretty anti-climactic....they just stop. My husband seemed to think that they might also be diving rejects....maybe they're afraid of water.

In any case - I just wanted to open your eyes to the world of trampoline-ing. With all the trampolines that I see in people's back yards, you would think that any kid could aspire to get to the Olympics to compete in that sport...maybe in time, the US will have an influx of trampoline athletes trying to "go for the gold!"