MacLennan regains bounce in her step
Olympic gold medal trampolinist puts concussion woes behind her for now
Trampolinist Rosie MacLennan took a much-needed break on the ground this week at Vancouver’s Granville Island Market.
“Sorry for the background noise,” the 2012 Olympic gold medallist said over the phone. “We’re in the kid zone with my nieces. We’re at the ball pit.”
The ball pit is a safe, comfortable place for MacLennan to hang out after locking up her Rio Olympic spot over the weekend by repeatedly launching herself two storeys into the air at a Canada Cup competition in Kamloops, B.C.
“I’m definitely a little relieved,” she said. “I’m looking forward to being able to focus on doing some new routines and work on some new tricks when I get back home and not have to worry about securing my spot. There’s been a few more obstacles for me this time around, but I think that’s the case for every athlete at some point in their career.”
MacLennan, 27, suffered what she believes was the third concussion of her career last July by over-rotating on a jump. The headaches lingered for months but have finally dissipated.
“This one has just lasted longer,” she said. “And my most recent issue is spatial awareness in the air, just because I have to retrain my vestibular and ocular system. And it takes time to do that.”
For all their struggles, concussed hockey and football players can at least take comfort that their feet remain, for the most part, on the ground.
“Day to day, I function perfectly fine,” she said. “I don’t notice anything. It’s just because the sport that I do stresses those systems so much. That’s why I’m still having issues.”
To address those issues, MacLennan dialed back her difficulty at the Canada Cup with Canada’s one and only women’s Olympic berth on the line.
The native of King City, Ont., won the event with 152.500 points, followed by three-time Olympic medallist Karen Cockburn of Toronto (148.185) and Samantha Sendel of Aurora, Ont. (147.420).
“I wanted to go with a routine that was consistent and stable and a little bit conservative, so I could focus on the stability side, focus on jumping as high as I could,” she said. “I went in with a more conservative attitude hoping it would pay off, and now I can focus my attention on bigger and better routines.” This and that:
Roseline Filion continues to amaze in her recovery from a broken foot that originally looked destined to ruin her chances of competing at the Rio Games. Just three months after suffering the injury, she combined with Meaghan Benfeito to win synchronized silver off the 10-metre platform at the FINA Diving World Series event in Dubai. Jennifer Abel won individual silver in three-metre platform event.
The B.C. Wheelchair Sports Association issued an all-points bulletin Monday to recover two custom wheelchair rugby wheels. An opportunistic thief smashed the back window of Byron Green’s car Monday morning in Vancouver and swiped the wheels, estimated to cost $2,300. Green, 31, is expected to represent Canada at the Rio Paralympic Games. Hero of the Week
Alex Bilodeau is making his mark with kids in his home province.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist in mogul skiing has reached 92 per cent of his goal to raise $1 million for the Mab-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre in the name of his brother Frédéric.
Frédéric, 34, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a toddler. Doctors said he would never walk beyond the age of 10, but he stood on his own power at the finish line at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and celebrated Alex’s big win.
“Helping sport for disabled children is to give them the opportunity to dream,” Bilodeau told reporters Wednesday in Montreal.