- Team Finals Results: Trampoline | Double Mini | Tumbling
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19, 2021 – The U.S. women’s double mini trampoline team, consisting of Lacey Jenkins of Mattoon, Ill./Integrity Athletics, Shelby Nobuhara of Mapleton, Utah/High Altitude, Trinity Van Natta of Westerville, Ohio/Integrity Athletics and Tristan Van Natta of Westerville, Ohio/Integrity Athletics, claimed gold Friday at the 2021 Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. The group, which qualified to the event final in the second position, edged the Russian Gymnastics Federation by a tenth of a point – 104.900 to 104.800 – to secure the U.S. back-to-back titles going back to 2019. The Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships did not take place in 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic.
Trinity Van Natta led off with a 34.800, while sister Tristan, the only returning member of the 2019 gold-medal squad, anchored the team with a 35.200. Nobuhara posted a 34.900 competing in the second spot. Jenkins contributed to team qualifying. Nobuhara and Tristan Van Natta will look to add to their medal collections during Sunday’s women’s individual double mini trampoline final.
The U.S. also qualified teams to the men’s team double mini trampoline final and men’s and women’s team tumbling finals, which were held Friday at the Milli Gimnastika Arenasi.
World individual medalists Alex Renkert of Columbus, Ohio/Integrity Athletics (37.100) and Ruben Padilla of Bluffdale, Utah/Wasatch Trampoline & Tumbling (39.300), along with teammates Changa Anderson of Washington, D.C./Silver Stars Gymnastics (24.900) and Tomas Minc of Chevy Chase, Md./Dynamite Gymnastics, finished fourth in the men’s team double mini trampoline final with a 101.300. The Russian Gymnastics Federation delivered a 115.800 to take the top spot. Portugal (111.300) and Spain (108.700) earned silver and bronze, respectively. Padilla, who will compete in Saturday’s individual double mini final, posted the highest score of the session and was one of only two athletes to eclipse the 39.000 mark.
Renkert, who will join Padilla in the men’s individual double mini trampoline final, also competed in the men’s team tumbling final Friday. Renkert (33.300) and teammates Kaden Brown of Herriman, Utah/Wasatch Trampoline & Tumbling (38.400) and Charlie Larson of White Bear Lake, Minn./Twin City Twisters (33.300) finished fourth after qualifying in the third position earlier in the day. Their combined 105.000 was surpassed by the Russian Gymnastics Federation (112.800), Great Britain (111.200) and Denmark (106.900) who rounded out the podium. Brown posted the second-highest-scoring tumbling pass of the competition during Friday’s final and will compete Sunday in the individual final.
Savanna Cecil of Crossville, Tenn./Premier Athletics Knoxville (30.700), Miah Bruns of Crete, Ill./World Champions Centre (33.300), Tia Taylor of Knoxville, Tenn./Premier Athletics Knoxville (29.200) and Sarah Thompson of Davis, Ill./J and J Tumbling and Trampoline were fifth in the women’s team tumbling final. France took the top spot with a 99.400, edging Belgium by a point. Great Britain was third with a 98.100. After qualifying yesterday in the fourth position, Taylor is set to compete in Saturday’s women’s individual tumbling final.
The men’s and women’s team trampoline competitions were also held Friday. On the men’s side, Belarus claimed gold with a 180.690 followed by Japan (178.335) and the Russian Gymnastics Federation (169.550). Japan topped the podium in the women’s division with a 164.245. China (163.250) was second, and the Russian Gymnastics Federation (162.920) was third. The U.S. was not represented in the team trampoline finals.
U.S. trampolinists will instead set their sights on the individual competition. Four Americans have qualified to compete in tomorrow’s trampoline semifinals with the top-eight gymnasts advancing to Sunday’s event finals. Cody Gesuelli of Huntsville, Ala./Merino Trampoline Gymnastics Academy and Isaac Rowley of Allen, Texas/Eagle Gymnastics Academy will compete in the men’s semifinal, while Maia Amano of Honolulu, Hawaii/Merino Trampoline Gymnastics Academy and Jessica Stevens of Ellicott City, Md./Fairland Gymnastics will take on the women’s field. The pair of Gesuelli and Padilla also qualified to the men’s synchronized trampoline final which will take place Saturday.