Samantha Smith of Toronto, Ontario won her first career World Cup trampoline medal on Sunday. She placed third in a World Cup women’s trampoline event in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Smith posted a bronze medal winning score of 54.585 points. She reached the podium by 0.35 points over Megu Uyama of Japan, who had a fourth place score of 54.55 points. Xueying Zhu of China won the gold medal with a score of 55.81 points and Lingling Liu of China won the silver medal with a score of 54.945 points.
At 27 years of age, Smith is continuing the strong Canadian tradition of trampolinists. In 2019, she came away with one of her most significant international achievements when she won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
There are two more World Cups this season prior to the Olympic Games. The first is in Coimbra, Portugal from June 27-28, 2020 and the second is in Arosa, Switzerland from July 3-4, 2020. It is interesting how close these two World Cups are to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.It would not be a huge surprise if we do not see the world’s best trampolinists in Portugal or Switzerland due to the risk of a possible injury.
Two-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Rosannagh MacLennan of Toronto will be looking for a healthier 2020 than 2019. Last season MacLennan broke her ankle. MacLennan won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
