Cockburn heading back to Olympics

King City's MacLennan finishes fourth

July 18, 2008

By Mike Hayakawa

It's official: Karen Cockburn will compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Stouffville resident and two-time Olympic medallist won the gold medal in a World Cup women's trampoline event in Publier, France, assuring a third Canadian Olympic team nomination.

Cockburn totalled 39.0 points with an exceptional performance in the final. Shanshan Huang of China was second at 38.60 and Claire Wright of Great Britain third at 37.2.

Rosannagh MacLennan of King City was edged out for the bronze, taking fourth with 37.1 points.

While pleased with the win, the 27-year-old Cockburn was even more relieved to earned a berth in the Olympics, which begin Aug. 8.

"It's nice to have the Olympic spot locked up and not have to worry about it anymore," said Cockburn, who won Olympic bronze in 2000 and silver in 2004.

"I was really pleased with my win today, I had a great routine. It felt amazing to be on top of the podium and hear the national anthem. It was a really great day for me."

Cockburn is continuing an impressive comeback from knee surgery last fall.

"I want to make sure I'm pushing myself and improving, but at the same time I'm making sure I'm taking care of my knee and not overdoing it," said Cockburn, who didn't compete in the synchro event this past weekend in order to rest the knee.

MacLennan, chasing the second women's Olympic spot for Canada, increased the difficulty of her routine for the final.

"I was really happy with how I did in the final," said MacLennan, who placed third at the world championships last year.

"My goal really was to get through my routine cleanly and I achieved that," she said.

"It's really important to do those hard routines now because other top competitors are doing them.

For the final you have to up your difficulty or else you'll be too far behind."