SOFIA (BUL), FIG Office
November 4, 2013
The Flying People – also known as the world's top gymnasts in Individual and Synchronised Trampoline, Tumbling and Double Mini Trampoline are in Sofia (BUL) this week for the 2013 FIG Trampoline Gymnastics and Tumbling World Championships. Here's what you need to know about the competition, broken down by discipline:
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL TRAMPOLINE
Dates
Men's and women's qualifying, round one: Thursday, Nov. 7 from 10:00 to 19:30.
Men's qualifying, round two: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 14:30 to 15:30.
Men's team finals: Friday, Nov. 8 from 19:50 to 20:20.
Men's individual finals: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 20:00 to 20:30.
Women's qualifying, round two: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 13:30 to 14:30.
Women's team finals: Friday, Nov. 8 from 19:00 to 19:30.
Women's individual finals: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 18:30 to 19:00.
New for 2013: A second qualifying round that will whittle the top 24 individuals from the first round down to eight finalists.
How it works: Trampoline competition consists of two exercises in the first qualifying round (a routine where two elements count for the difficulty score and emphasis is on execution and time of flight, as well as an optional routine of 10 elements that count for difficulty). Three per country can qualify to the second qualifying round, but only two per country may advance to the final.
The top five teams (of three or four gymnasts) advance to the team final. During the team final, three gymnasts from each team each perform one routine. The team with the highest cumulative score wins.
An important component of the individual trampoline score is time of flight (the T score), measuring the amount of time spent in the air during an exercise.
What to expect: Olympic champions Dong Dong (CHN) and Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN) are back to defend their titles, but to do so they will face a host of international rivals, like Masaki Ito (JPN), Dmitry Ushakov (RUS) and Xiao Tu (CHN) in men's individual. MacLennan's competition includes 2008 Olympic champion He Wenna (CHN), Li Dan (CHN) and Uzbeks Anna Kasparyan and Ekaterina Khilko.
The men’s team competition is likely to be a duel involving China, Russia and Japan, while Great Britain, Canada, Russia and Ukraine are strong contenders for the women’s podium.
Did you know?: Trampoline has been an Olympic sport since the 2000 Sydney Games. The first Olympic champions in trampoline were Russians Alexander Moskalenko and Irina Karavaeva, both gymnastics legends in their own right.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SYNCHRONISED TRAMPOLINE
Dates
Men's and women's qualifying: Friday, Nov. 8 from 15:30 to 18:00.
Women's synchro finals: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 19:30 to 20:00.
Men's synchro finals: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 18:00 to 18:30.
How it works: The top eight synchro pairs (one per country) advance to the new life final.
What to expect: Many of the top names in individual trampoline also bounce with a partner in synchro. The Chinese pair Dong Dong and Tu Xiao are going for their second consecutive World title in synchro, while Rosannagh MacLennan and new partner Samantha Sendel seek the top rung of the podium after disappointment at this summer's World Games in Cali (COL).
Did you know?: Gymnasts in synchro receive a difficulty score, an execution score and a synchro score. The synchro score is based in part on a device that measures the landing differences between the two trampolines.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TUMBLING
Dates
Men's tumbling qualifications: Friday, Nov. 8 from 9:30 to 12:00.
Women's tumbling qualifications: Friday, Nov. 8 from 12:30 to 14:30.
Women's team finals: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 17:30 to 18:00.
Men's team finals: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 18:30-19:00.
Men's individual tumbling finals: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 16:00 to 16:30.
Women's individual tumbling finals: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 17:00 to 17:30.
How it works: Each tumbling set consists of eight connected elements, the last of which is usually a stunner of flips and twists. Gymnasts do two tumbling passes (a salto pass and a twisting pass) in both qualifications and finals, with scores from both counting toward their final total.
The top five teams advance to the team final. Gymnasts (three per team) perform only one pass in the team final.
What to expect: China's Jia Fangfang, all of 19, is the world champion and dominant force in women's tumbling, with far and away the highest difficulty scores (she won the World Games title by a whopping five points over her nearest competitor.) The men's competition may turn into a battle between 2013 World Games gold medalists Zhang Luo (CHN) and Viktor Kyforenko (UKR), with a strong challenge from 2011 World champion Yang Song (CHN).
China and Russia dominated the podium in the team competition at the 2011 World Championships. Two years later, little appears to have changed – both teams are favored for the podium, with a strong challenge coming from Great Britain.
Did you know?: Tumbling was (literally) once an Olympic sport -- back in 1932. To date, it has never made a second appearance at the Games. American Rowland Wolfe remains the sport’s only Olympic champion.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S DOUBLE MINI TRAMPOLINE
Dates
Men's double mini qualifications: Friday, Nov. 8 from 12:30 to 14:30.
Women's double mini qualifications: Friday, Nov. 8 from 9:30 to 12:00.
Women's team finals: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 17:00 to 17:30.
Men's team finals: Saturday, Nov. 9 from 18:00 to 18:30.
Men's individual double mini finals: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 15:30 to 16:00.
Women's individual double mini finals: Sunday, Nov. 10 from 16:30 to 17:00.
How it works: Each double mini pass consists of two connected elements (think of them as a mount and a dismount). As in tumbling, gymnasts do two passes in both qualifications and finals. Scores from both runs in the final count toward the total.
As in tumbling, the top five teams advance to the team final. Gymnasts (three per team) perform only one pass in the team final.
What to expect: Bruno Martini (BRA) and Svetlana Balandina (RUS) are the reigning World champions in double mini, and both are hungry for a second world title. Meanwhile, a number of international challengers, including Mikhail Zalomin (RUS) in men's and Bianca Zoonekynd (RSA) in women's will try for an upset.
The Canadian men and women won the World titles in double mini in 2011 and should be in the hunt again this year.
Did you know?: Double mini is known as the “all about landing” discipline, due to its weighty deductions failing to land cleanly or landing outside the designated mat area.