Madeleine’s jumping for joy

By Paul Pickering
LONDON is calling for Berwick trampolinist Madeleine Johnson.
The 17-year-old Haileybury College student has her sights firmly set on the 2012 Olympic Games as she prepares for next month’s Youth Olympics in Singapore.
Johnson, who was Gymnastics Victoria’s Trampolinist of the Year in 2009, is one of only two Australians who will challenge the likes of trampolining powerhouses Russia, the Unites States and Canada when the under-18 Games kick off on 14 August.
The 2007 World Age Games gold medallist had her ticket to Singapore stamped by the Australian Olympic Committee a fortnight ago.
Johnson says it was the realisation of a goal she had been working towards for the past two years. She even elected not to compete in open-age competition this year – despite being more than capable of making the step up – in a bid to retain her eligibility for next month’s Games.
“It’s going to be such an amazing experience,” she said last week.
“I’ve never actually travelled with an Australian team that includes lots of other sports, and to stay at an Olympic village will be amazing.”
Trampolining was included in the Olympics in Sydney and has steadily grown in popularity in Australian gymnastic circles.
Johnson, who suffers from arthritis in her hands, began specialising in the apparatus at age 10 after a grounding in artistic gymnastics.
Trampolining proved to be a lot easier on the hands and Johnson wasted little time in establishing herself as an emerging star of the sport.
She first competed internationally at the 2004 Indo Pacific Games in Canada and was Gymnastics Australia’s National Athlete of the Year in 2008.
The Year 11 student spends around 12 hours per week training at Cheltenham Youth Club and has to balance her VCE studies in between overseas competitions.
“It’s hard (to balance school and competing) because I go away so much,” she said.
“But I generally get my teachers to email some work to do while I’m away and I try and catch up when I get back.”
And while London looms large, Johnson is also keen to branch out into performance gymnastics, such as the global phenomenon Cirque Du Soleil.
“Quite a few trampoliners go into the circus when they finish, because we generally have the strength and flexibility for it, so that’d be another amazing experience,” she said.
For now though, Johnson is determined to make the final in Singapore and see what happens from there.