A long wait for the duo of Wang Zisai and Hu Yicheng ended Sunday as they became the new world champions in Trampoline, ensuring China closed out their campaign at 38th FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships in Pamplona, Spain on a high.
Absent from the podiums all week, Chinese gymnasts accounted for three gold and two bronze medals on the final day of the championships yesterday. In addition to individual victories from Zisai and Yicheng, Chinese pairs earned bronze medals in Men’s and Women’s Synchronised Trampoline.
A collective effort by the Chinese team also brought the nation its second All-Around World team title ahead of a group of independent neutral athletes and Great Britain. China won the inaugural event in 2018 and bronze in 2019 but has not been on the podium since.
“Our hearts were pounding,” said team leader Yan Langyu, whose contribution to China’s victory was a routine with eight triple-somersaulting skills. “I am very confident in that routine,” he added. “In a different competition I might have done nine triples, but for today eight was enough.
“I want to thank my teammates for fighting together to achieve the gold medal,” he added.
Many silvers later, Wang gets his gold
Wang is the latest of a long list of Chinese men to win one of the ultimate prizes in the sport his countrymen have dominated for 20 years. Since 2006, the men’s world title has only left China once.
Wang made sure it stayed that way. Headphones planted on his head, the 2024 Olympic silver medallist was in his bubble as a topsy-turvy final unfolded around him. As the last to perform, Zisai remained mostly unaware of falls by his friend and rival Andrei Builou (AIN), 2022 World champion Dylan Schmidt of New Zealand and a wild routine from medal favourite Gabriel Albuquerque of Portugal.
All of that, combined with the early exit of Olympic champion Ivan Litvinovich (AIN) in Saturday’s semifinal, opened a path for the 19-year-old to step up and grab the gold with a strong routine. Once on the trampoline, Wang didn’t hesitate: 63.470 points was more than a point and a half ahead of Ruben Padilla of the USA.
“I was very nervous throughout the whole wait, especially after the gymnast who performed before me, because there was a long wait for his score. That made me even more nervous,” said Zisai, who earned silvers at the Olympics and the 2023 World Championships. “Fortunately I was able to recover from that nervousness to do my best.“
Padilla’s silver makes him the first American in 51 years to climb onto the podium. A three-time world champion in Double Mini-trampoline who has been climbing the ranks in the Olympic discipline, Padilla came into the final just pleased to be there. As it went on, he watched with mounting disbelief as his name remained at the top of the leaderboard.
“I have had so much success in Double Mini, and to see that success finally translate over into trampoline, again, no words. It’s just incredible,” said Padilla, the U.S. Olympic alternate last year. “It’s motivated me to just keep going and to push harder.”
Miyano Hayato of Japan displayed an astonishing eight triple somersaults in his routine for 61.350 and bronze.
Hu’s the World champion? It’s Yicheng
With gold for a Trampoline routine that mixed difficulty with daintiness, Yicheng became the first Chinese woman in a decade to win the women’s title. The 26-year-old had been waiting for her chance since finishing off the podium by 0.01 in 2023, and replacing that memory with a golden one Sunday could not have been sweeter, she said.
Her fourth place in Birmingham two years ago was “the biggest regret in my heart,” Yicheng explained, “so I was really looking forward to proving myself that I was the best in the world. That dream has driven me all the way here.”
Poised and graceful on the Trampoline, Yicheng also administered a healthy dose of difficulty. No one was able to top her time of flight, leading her to score 57.350. Mori Hikaru of Japan came closest with 57.320, completing a full set of medals at these championships.
“To be very honest I was very excited before my routine, because I knew my chance had come,” Yicheng said. “But I had to calm down from that excitement because the most important thing for me was to perform well before I could celebrate. And that was what I did!”
Canadian Sophiane Methot scored a rare perfect 10 for Horizontal Displacement after landing every element in her routine directly in the center of the trampoline. The score helped the Quebec native win bronze, her first individual world medal since bronze in 2017.
Olympic champion Litvinovich earns Synchro gold
Hikaru and Tanaka Saki took Women’s Synchronised gold with 50.250 points, ahead of Mori’s training partners Bryony Page and Isabelle Songhurst of Great Britain, who scored 49.990.
Saki’s first world medal was a full-circle moment for the pair: when Hikaru won the Individual and Synchronised World titles for the first time in 2018, Saki, a junior competitor at the time, won identical titles in World Age Group Competition the week after. The duo only began competing together this year, by all accounts the new partnership is thriving.
“At first, because there’s a four-year age difference between us, communicating with each other was more difficult than performing,” Hikaru said. “However, after several competitions and lots of communication, we’ve become able to say anything to each other, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
“Hikaru always shows me her fun side, and every day is so much fun,” Saki added. “She’s always encouraging me and caring about me, so I’m glad that this led to the result it did.”
Synchronised gold and Individual silver makes for a full set of medals in Pamplona for Hikaru, who also earned bronze in Women’s Team Trampoline earlier this week.
Litvinovich and Builou earned the Men’s Synchronised title with a solid effort that scored 54.670, salvaging a challenging Individual competition for both men. Matsumoto Yusei and Miyano Hayato of Japan took silver, while Chen Yuhan and Wang Dong (CHN) earned bronze.
“For us it has been the most serious preparation for the World Championship that we have ever had, stronger than for the Olympic Games in Paris,” Litvinovich said. “We see this World Championships like an Olympic Games. We have no motivation problems.”
