ekansekans's blog: "df"

Rosie MacLennan has more than enough people to get on the trampoline for. A trailblazing teammate eyeing retirement, a string of siblings that introduced her to the sport, and a grandfather whose journey to the Olympic Games was never fulfilled. But when the time comes to leave solid ground, she only jumps for herself. “Whether or not theres pressure from everybody else, youre always to going to feel more. Because youre the one that cares the most,” said MacLennan. “Im doing this because I love it and Ive had a lot of fun with it.” For something she does for fun, MacLennan has done pretty well for herself. MacLennan made her Olympic debut at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, finishing seventh. The 23-year-old is a strong contender to top the podium at the London 2012. But to get there, she will have to defeat her best friend and training partner – the most decorated trampolinist in Olympic history – Karen Cockburn. “Ideally, itd be sweet if we tied, but they dont like that in our sport,” said MacLennan with a laugh. “We create a team dynamic more than a competitive dynamic.” It would be an awkward hurdle for some athletes. Not for MacLennan – she has already topped Cockburn at major international competitions, threatening to challenge the 31-year-olds dominance as Canadas top trampolinist. The King City, Ont. native has won medals at the last three consecutive World Championships. She also took home gold in the individual event at the Olympic Test Event in London in January. MacLennan capped off her pre-Olympic season with a gold medal at the most recent World Cup in Arosa, Switzerland. The win was a relief as much as it was a confidence boost – it was the first time MacLennan looked to be back in top form after she missed the Canadian national championships in May due to a mild concussion. “I would say both Karen and Rosie could end up on the podium,” said CTVOlympics gymnastics analyst and Athens 2004 gold medallist Kyle Shewfelt. “Rosie does a bigger level of difficulty, but Karens execution is cleaner. “Theyre neck and neck.”Perhaps the most impressive skill is the womens ability to compete as partners in the synchronized event, regardless of who beats who in the individual just hours before. “Its an interesting rivalry between Karen and Rosie, because theyre best friends and training partners,” said Shewfelt. “I think Karen wants to see Rosie win, and Rosie wants to see Karen win. But individually, they both to want to win and secretly, theyre like ‘I want to beat her! “But thats good. Theyre going to push each other to do better.” Cockburn plans to retire following the London 2012 Olympic Games to start a family with her husband, retired trampolinist and Sydney 2000 medallist Mathieu Turgeon. But she has no qualms about leaving MacLennan with the job of mentoring the younger athletes at their gym, Skyriders Trampoline in Richmond Hill, Ont., as Cockburn always has. “Sometimes we have drama on our teams with some of the younger girls, fighting and stuff,” said Cockburn. “Its important to have a good leader, because sometimes coaches and managers cant defuse those things. “Shes awesome at that, and I think itll be good for the team that shell be there to continue that on.” It is a strong relationship, built on years of serving each other humble pie. MacLennan has been steadily creeping up on Cockburns scores in competition since her debut at Beijing 2008, providing a constant challenge and forcing her more experienced teammate to increase her routines difficulty. But no victory could ever erase the immense influence Cockburn has had on MacLennan since she first met her as a child. Cockburn was someone to idolize and emulate, unstoppable in the eyes of a shy eight-year-old, whose mother had to coax her into asking Cockburn for advice. “I was always scared to talk to her because she was Karen Cockburn,” MacLennan emphasized with wide eyes and an intimidated stare. “Then when I started, she would always come into the gym early and talk to us, throw the mat in for us and give us advice. Training with her when I moved up to senior, it developed into a friendship. “She was always someone I looked up to as a role model.” But long before MacLennan met her role model, she found a hero closer to home: her grandfather, Lorne Patterson. MacLennan credits her family for giving her a taste for a variety of sports, always ensuring her athletic endeavours were focused on exposure, rather than results. “They were always really patient with teaching us new things,” said MacLennan. “We would spend days in the summer, morning until night, just diving, swimming, canoeing, everything.” Despite being the baby of the family, MacLennan was always expected to participate in the same activities as her siblings. “Age was no excuse,” she laughed, recalling learning to swim as a baby in a Styrofoam bathing suit after being “tossed” in the lake, and waterskiing at just two years old. There is no trace of sadness in her tone when MacLennan talks about her late “Gramps,” whose encouragement got her aspirations off the ground and shaped her success in the air. “If we said we wanted to do something, he would never be like, ‘Oh, okay,” MacLennan said, miming a brush-off. “When I was a kid and I said I wanted to be an Olympian, he would never laugh at me. He would be like, ‘Okay, how do we do it? “I think thats the biggest influence that he had on my life.” Grampss guidance came from a much more personal place than any of MacLennans family knew. It was not until later in his life that her grandfather revealed his own gymnastics accomplishments – “perhaps because between three kids and a chatty wife, he did not get much air time,” joked MacLennan in a blog post. Patterson qualified in artistic gymnastics for the Tokyo 1940 Olympic Games. But his Olympic dream went up in smoke when World War II broke out and the Games were cancelled. Patterson trained young soldiers when he was forbidden from serving in the war, too valuable as a talented engineer to be sent overseas. In many ways, MacLennan was her grandfathers young charge. “He was really important in creating an environment where whatever you try, you do your best,” said MacLennan. “Yes, youll encounter your defeats, but the way you approach that obstacle is way more important than the obstacles that you actually encounter.” MacLennans dream came to a head at the 2007 World Championships in Quebec City. It was her chance to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and true to form, Patterson was there to support her in the stands. MacLennan competed in the first of eight rounds of trampolinists, but did not think her performance was strong enough to make the top eight – the ranking needed to qualify for the Games. She left the gym with Cockburn, disheartened, but when the two returned later, MacLennan realized she was still in the top eight and held her place through the rest of the routines, solidifying her spot at the Games. After her qualifying finish, MacLennan wrote that her family were all “jumping up and down and shouting, except for Gramps – he was sitting there in his seat with a grin ear to ear and tears rolling down his cheeks.” Patterson passed away a few weeks before MacLennan was due to leave for Beijing. But his Olympic dream still lives within his granddaughter. Patterson helped to foster her ambition, and his lessons still resonate in her approach to her sport. MacLennan could devote her trampoline career to fulfilling her grandfathers broken Olympic journey. She could obsess over comparison, measuring herself against her teammates accomplishments and reveling in her advantages over Cockburn. But what really keeps MacLennan jumping back up each time can be more simply explained in one of her favourite warm-up songs, “Good Feeling” by Flo Rida. “Theres one line thats like, ‘Gotta love the life were living,” said MacLennan. “That one really sticks with me, because I love what I do, I love jumping on a trampoline. “Regardless of anything else, thats what I come back to.” Cheap Jerseys Direct . -- Compare what was said Wednesday by Robert Griffin III and Mike Shanahan. Cheap Jerseys . Hosted by James Duthie, the two-hour program sets the table for the new campaign with Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie and Darren Dreger and analysts Ray Ferraro, Aaron Ward and Mike Johnson. http://facialhairstyleshq.info/cheapjerseys.html . Cuban said before Saturday nights game against Memphis that he wanted to be clear with Nowitzki that he was committed "through thick and thin" to getting the team back in contention.Canadas Mark Oldershaw placed second in his heat of the mens C-1 1000m to advance to the semi-finals. The Burlington native was just behind Spains David Cal to claimm second place.dddddddddddd. Oldershaw paddled in good form to claim second place, opting to save energy for the semi-finals later in the day.  ' ' '