MacLennan bounces back
TRAMPOLINE: Olympic gold medallist puts concussion woes aside to earn spot in Rio
CALGARY — Trampolinist Rosie MacLennan took a much-needed break 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 in the air at a Canada Cup competition in Kamloops.
“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 overrotating 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 mostly on the ground.
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.”
MacLennan was the only Canadian to win gold in London in 2012, and she’s a legitimate threat to defend her title in Rio — not that she sees it in those terms.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve done in the past in my sport,” she said. “But at the same time, it’s a whole new opportunity for 16 girls to go in, and one of us will stand on top of the podium.
“I’m looking at it as a new opportunity rather than having the mentality that I’m trying to defend. I feel if you go in there trying to defend, it’s like you have something to lose. And I don’t really feel that way.”
Roseline Filion continues to amaze in her recovery from a broken foot. 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 threemetre platform event.
The B.C. Wheelchair Sports Association issued an all-points bulletin Monday for 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.
“Only a few hundred people play wheelchair rugby,” the association said in a Facebook post. “The wheels will not fit on any other type of wheelchair. To sell the equipment, the thief would have to first know that they’re rugby wheelchair wheels, and then find a rugby player to buy the wheels.”
Green, 31, is a civil engineer and he’s expected to represent Canada at the Rio Paralympic Games.