Toppled a promising Kiwi
and a trailblazing achievement – if Maddie could convert those milestones into Olympic representation at Tokyo 2020.
‘‘We’re already proud of what Maddie has achieved. But for a generation of young Kiwi girls just waiting to be inspired by New Zealand’s first female trampoline Olympian, then that would be absolutely amazing.’’
Dylan Schmidt set the bar high for Kiwi athletes in 2016, when he became our first trampoline Olympian, finishing an admirable seventh in the men’s individual competition. Also competing in Japan this week, he’s been a mine of information for Davidson in her campaign.
‘‘I take anything he says on board. He gave me great advice on how to ‘kill bounce’ to end my routine, which I haven’t been so good at. That’s made a difference too,’’ she says.
Davidson isn’t a novice on the world stage. This will be her sixth world championships – competing at world age-group levels since she was 15.
Two years ago, she won silver in the individual, and bronze in the synchronised pair (with Kate Nicholson) in the world 17-21 year age division.
Davidson still competes in synchro – in fact, she’s now ranked fourth in the world with partner Alexa Kennedy. Unfortunately for them, synchronised trampoline isn’t an Olympic event.
What’s most impressive about this pairing is that they live on two different islands – Davidson in Christchurch and Kennedy in Auckland. They often only get together at a World Cup, which obviously makes training difficult.
‘‘You just have to learn to adjust really quickly,’’ Davidson says. ‘‘We’ve learned each other’s habits really well, so that when we get together, we instantly know what each other does.’’
The pair won’t be competing at these world championships, after Kennedy was injured at the last World Cup, in Spain. She has also been pressing for the individual Olympic spot.
‘‘It’s such a shame she isn’t here,’’ Davidson says from Japan. ‘‘We are really good friends now. She definitely needs to make sure she’s healthy and happy, rather than push for another competition.’’
Davidson has been relatively injury-free so far in her career. Though her parents must have worried when she first hopped on a tramp aged seven.
‘‘We had family friends who did the sport, and they tried to teach me how to do it. But I had a lot less control,’’ Davidson admits.
‘‘So Mum and Dad figured they should put me in a club rather than letting me do it not so well myself.
‘‘At that point I was trying to do a lot of different things – ballet, basketball and soccer as well. Then I watched one of the older trampoline kids come down from Auckland and I remember thinking how amazing they were. So I finished the other sports and focused on trampolining.
‘‘I wasn’t great at it, but I just loved being on a trampoline.’’
The Davidsons have videos of their daughter around the age of nine, declaring she wanted to go to the Olympics.
‘‘But I didn’t really think it was ever going to happen. I hadn’t done anything extraordinary until I was 18 and got to world age groups. Then I thought ‘maybe it’s possible, maybe I could do this’. And that kick-started the serious training,’’ she says.
Nilov, who has a master’s degree in trampoline sports science, has been Davidson’s coach for the past seven years. He’s with her in Japan.
‘‘For a while, our club had a problem keeping coaches, they were changing every two or three months. As an athlete, it was a really unstable environment,’’ she says. ‘‘I wouldn’t be where I am now if we hadn’t found Alex.’’
Davidson is now passing on her international knowledge to the next generation of athletes in Christchurch. When she’s not training, or studying, she works at a gymnastics centre running the trampoline programme.
She’s three years into her bachelor of commerce degree, which she’s doing part time, and eventually wants to work in social marketing, influencing change in the community.
Davidson ends her routine with a full-in half-out pike, followed immediately by a half-in Rudy-out pike. She deciphers that as ‘‘a lot of twisting’’.
But she’s quite happy to turn herself inside out for a shot at the Olympics.
This story was originally published on Locker Room at Newsroom.co.nz, and is republished with permission.
American heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder has surprisingly been anointed as ‘‘the greatest of all time’’ by Muhammad Ali’s ex-wife Khalilah. Khalilah was ringside as American Wilder knocked out Cuba’s Luis Ortiz in Las Vegas on Sunday to extend his record to 42-0-1. Ali is widely acknowledged as ‘‘the greatest’’ but Khalilah, who was married to Ali between 1967 and 1977 and had four of his children, seemed happy to pass on that mantle to Wilder who holds the WBC belt and is determined to unify the heated division. Khalilah, 69, embraced Wilder after the clash and said in moment captured by a FightHype video: ‘‘You are definitely the King of the Ring, you don’t have to prove anything, just do your thing.’’