"El trampolino" was the Mexican word for "diving board",
and one of the many words in common usage, which was once
actually trademarked as "trampoline".
The first gold medal awarded in Olympic trampoline
competition, went to Irina Karavaeva, of Russia. The
event, which took place at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney,
Australia, was witnessed by George Nissen, the 86 year-old
inventor of the trampoline.
The famous picture taken in the late 50s, of inventor
George Nissen on a trampoline with a "tame" kangaroo, was
only accomplished by Nissen holding its front paws when
they got on it, so the animal could not kick him.
The Gillingham Jumpers, a club based in Kent, England, is
the largest known trampoline club in the world, with 1500
members bouncing around the Jumpers Rebound Centre, every
week.
Trampolines have entered the arena of "extreme sports",
with some centers offering a combination of bungee jumping
and trampoline jumping, where participants wear a harness
attached to bungee cord rigging, that allows them to bounce
extra high off the trampoline, without the danger of
falling if they lose their balance.
The 2005 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records,
includes a category for the longest slam-dunk of a
basketball from a player bouncing on a trampoline.
Judy Wills Cline became the first World Champion on the
trampoline, in 1964. Cline held a total of ten world
titles in trampoline, synchronized trampoline, and
tumbling. The first men's World Champion, also crowned in
1964, was Dan Millman, who is a noted personal growth
author and speaker.
In 1986, a six-man team from the Delta Epsilon fraternity
at Cleveland State University, set a Guinness World Book
Record for 53 days of continuous bouncing on a trampoline.
They received a phone call of congratulations from frater
Ronald Reagan.
Discover valuable advice and information about trampolines
- which model to choose, what you should look for and what
you should avoid. Click
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