Jeremy Chartier was nervous before he climbed up on the Canada Winter Games trampoline for his final routine Tuesday.
He wasn't bothered by the fact he was about to bend, flip and twist his 13-year-old body while springing 25 feet into the air. In this sport, that's what it takes to win a gold medal.
Chartier's guts were churning simply because he was the last guy to go.
After two qualifying routines that were anything but routine, Chartier saved his best for last in front of a sellout crowd at the College of New Caledonia gym. Like a seasoned circus trapeze artist working with a trampoline for a net, the Montreal native executed all 10 of his acrobatic combinations just the way he had them planned and gold was his to celebrate.
"It's 10 times more stressful when you're the last one because everyone expects you to be the best one when you're the last one, so they shout louder and they scream your name, and it makes me real nervous, said Chartier. "I was nervous a lot."
Chartier, who turns 14 in March, already has 10 years of gymnastics behind him. He's competed in trampolining for six years. Based on a degree of difficulty of 13.3, second-highest of the eight finalists, he posted a final score of 39.2 points.
Joining Chartier on the medal podium was silver-medalist Nathan Shuu of Etobicoke, Ont., (35.7), and Team Alberta's Mark Armstrong of Red Deer (35.0). All athletes had the slate wiped clean for the final after their first two flights.
Kyle Carragher of Port Coquitlam, 17, was second overall after the first two qualifying flights but had trouble finding his landing zone and twice his routine stalled when he soared too far horizontally. Carragher had a degree of difficulty of 13.6, tops in the competition. He ended up eighth overall.
"Kyle is one of the best athletes in Canada, he's better than me but he just started a new skill maybe last week and he had difficulties," said Chartier.
Shuu is just shy of six feet and at the height of his jumps his head came within five feet of the ceiling. Chartier is only five-foot-five, so he had a bit more clearance to work with. He says he never gets scared jumping that high, but there's no getting around the inherent dangers that come with the sport and the risk of injuries. Coaches and officials surround the landing area with additional mats but sometimes the gymnasts fly beyond their reach.
It was a gold-medal sweep for Quebec. Sophiane Mthot of Varennes, Que., won the women's individual event with a score of 36.7. Rachel Tam of Toronto won silver (36.0), Kalena Soehn of Red Deer, Alta., earned bronze (33.9), and B.C. favourite Poppy Quinlan of Maple Ridge was fourth (33.3). Mthot's routine had a 11.3 degree of difficulty, second only to Tam's 12.9.
"I'm really happy with it, I wanted to finish in the first three and I'm proud of myself," said Mthot.
In the individual event, the top-scoring male and female from each province after the first two flights advanced to the final round.
Quebec continues to run away with the medal standings, now with 92 medals, including 37 gold. Ontario is second with 54 medals and B.C. is third with 49. Quebec trampoline coach Yan Prigent was not surprised Chartier and Mthot are now Canada Games champions.
"They were first coming in and they did their jobs - they just came back from the world age championships and they did well there," said Prigent.
Chartier finished fifth at the world age class championships in Daytona Beach, Fla., in November, while Mthot was eighth as an individual and second in the synchronized event.
"It really helped me to compete (at the world event), it was kind of the same routine," said the 16-year-old Mthot. "I just wanted to do my routines, but better and cleaner."
Canada is one of the top countries in trampoline gymnastics, having won numerous medals at the world championships over the past two decades. The sport has had its own world championships since 1964 but wasn't well known until it became an Olympic sport in 2000. Karen Cockburn of Toronto won Canada's first Olympic medal (bronze in 2004 in Athens) and also won silver in Beijing in 2008. She teamed up with 2012 Olympic singles champion Rosie MacLennan of Toronto to win silver in synchronized trampoline at the London Olympics. On the men's side, Jason Burnett of Etobicoke, Ont., won individual silver at the Beijing Olympics.
This is the first year trampolining has been part of the Canada Games. This week's competition at CNC is showcasing the most-likely future Canadian Olympians. Eight provinces are competing in the Games, with each province allowed two male and two female athletes.
Competition wraps up today with the mixed team event at CNC, starting at 4:30 p.m. Finals begin at 6 p.m.
