Individual, Women

The big question going into the women’s event in Tokyo 2020 was if Canadian Rosie MacLennan would win her third straight gold medal in the event, having previously won in London 2012 and Rio 2016 and becoming the first Canadian to defend their title in an individual sport. Defending silver medallist Bryony Page from Great Britain was also seen as a medal threat, along with 2014 Youth Olympic Games gold medallist Zhu Xueying and 2014 World Champion Liu Lingling, both from China. Sixteen (16) women from 12 NOCs competed in the qualifying round, with the favorites advancing, along with competitors from Mexico, ROC, the United States and Japan.

The final round saw MacLennan (who had been recovering from a foot injury sustained in training a few weeks prior) perform a respectable score of 55.460, but was ultimately edged out of a podium finish by the Chinese gymnasts Zhu (56.635) and Liu (56.350), and Page (55.735) of Great Britain. Zhu thus became the first Chinese gymnast since He Wenna in 2008 to win gold in the women’s trampoline event. With Liu finishing with the silver medal, this became the first 1-2 finish for China in an Olympic individual gymnastics competition.