Trampoline Becomes Olympic Medal Sport

 

By Julie Goldberg

Trampoline becomes an official medal sport next month at the Athens Olympics after being an exhibition, test-only sport four years ago in Sydney. And American trampoline star Jennifer Parilla is looking to win an Olympic medal. VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer¹ has more in this report written by Julie Goldberg.
Jennifer Parilla has been bouncing and jumping since she was a child. Her parents enrolled² her in gymnastics because she would race through the house and use a mini-trampoline to flip³ onto the sofa. When Parilla was five-years old her parents gave her trampoline lessons for a birthday present.
At the age of seven, she competed at her first national competition. Two-years later, she traveled to Germany to compete in her first age-group world championship. At 13 she won an age group title at the 1994 World Championship in the team double-mini event.
In 1996, Parilla became the first American in 23 years to finish in the top 10 in an individual trampoline event at senior worlds, placing seventh.
Parilla won her first individual national trampoline title in 1998. Since then she has won four more national championships. She has also won national championships in the double mini-trampoline and synchronized⁴ trampoline, which are not Olympic events.
The California native parted with longtime coach Robert Null and named her personal trainer and former men's artistic⁵ gymnast Mihai Bagiu as her coach in 2002. Parilla then traveled to Idaho, Sydney, and Germany to work with Russian coaches Oleg Fedozov and Nikolai Zhuravlev, and fellow competitor Anna Doganadze.
In 2003 Parilla's boyfriend and personal trainer Lionel Rangel became her full-time⁶ coach. She currently trains at the National Gymnastics Training Center in (Aliso Vieja,) California.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Jennifer finished ninth out of 12 competitors in preliminary competition, just missing a shot at the finals. Under her new coach, Parilla has high hopes for her second trip to the Olympics.
"I believe I will definitely bring home some color of a medal. That is my goal."
She knows to achieve her goal, she is going to face some tough competition.
"In Athens, I am definitely expecting the Russian girls, China, Germany and Canada to be competing very well. And that is my biggest competition, as of now, internationally.”
In trampoline, athletes perform 10 skills in a row. Parilla says performing one difficult skill after another is the most exciting part of the sport. To cope with the pressures of competition, she pretends she is doing a show. If she still feels pressure, Parilla tells herself "hey I love this sport."
When she is not training, Parilla is taking classes at Orange Coast College and working as a personal trainer.
Competing in her first Olympic games had a major impact on Parilla's life. She even got a butterfly tattoo⁷ to show her transition from athlete to Olympian.
"I have had that since I was 18. It stands for new beginnings and it was kind of the crossover time of my life from being an athlete to qualifying to the Olympics and being a true Olympic athlete and devoting my entire life to it."
Jennifer Parilla hopes this Athens Olympics have a bigger impact on her life, that is, to go through life as an Olympic medalist.
I am Parke Brewer, VOA Sports.
注释：
trampoline 蹦床
bounce 弹起，跳起
gymnastics 体操
synchronized 同步的，双人的
preliminary competition 预赛
tattoo 纹身

1 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

2 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

4 synchronized   

同步的

参考例句：

• Do not use the synchronized keyword in Managed Objects. 不要在管理对象上使用synchronized关键字。 来自互联网
• The timing of the gun was precisely synchronized with the turning of the plane's propeller. 风门的调速与飞机螺旋桨的转动精确同步。 来自辞典例句

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。