When Jason Burnett was 12 years old, he was already training alongside Olympic trampoline gymnasts Karen Cockburn and Mathieu Turgeon at the Skyriders facility in Richmond Hill.
“I got to be inspired by them any day of the week. I could see them training and competing, and they showed me where the sport was going and what I should be aiming for,” says 29-year-old Burnett, who is now preparing for his third Olympics.
After winning silver in Beijing in 2008, he finished eighth at the 2012 Games and is ready to get back on the podium. He also holds the world record of 18.8 degrees of difficulty for a trampoline routine performed in competition.
Leading up to Rio, Burnett is on the trampoline nine times a week, weight training two to three times a week, doing Pilates twice a week, and visits an athletic therapist and osteopath once a week. “That’s ramped up from a regular schedule. I’m usually only on tramps six or seven times a week,” he says.
He’s also had a chance to check out the Rio venue. “I was in the venue in Rio for the Olympic test event in April, and that’s when I qualified my spot. We got to compete in the venue on the competition equipment. The only thing missing was the crowds,” he says. Burnett first hopped on a trampoline at age eight while taking gymnastics classes. “The treat at the end of every class was to go jump on the trampoline. I loved that because I could jump and flip, and that’s all I really wanted to do,” he says. By age 12, he had signed up at Skyriders where he met his coach Dave Ross.
Between London and Rio, Burnett sustained a knee injury in 2014. “It’s been a very challenging recovery. I tore my ACL, which is the major ligament in the knee.” Within eight months, he was cleared to compete at the Pan Ams and is thankful he is on his way to his third Olympics. “Despite the success and failures and injuries that I’ve had throughout my career, I’m so happy to be going to my third one, especially with the ACL tear a few years ago that put my chances in jeopardy. I’ve come through a lot and I cannot wait to get there.”
