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Celebration World champ wins gold; Aussie takes silverPosted: Saturday September 23, 2000 8:47 AMUpdated: Monday November 13, 2000 2:00 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Elated after he finished his routine in the men's trampoline finals, the Australian Ji Wallace threw himself into his coach's arms. Nikolay Zhuravlev scooped Wallace up and raced off the podium, almost knocking a cameraman over in the process. "I was laughing, I was crying, I was trying to look for my Mum," Wallace said after winning the silver medal Saturday in the Olympic debut of the men's trampoline. "It was just the best feeling in the world. I can't describe it." Four-time world champion Alexandre Moskalenko of Russia, who ended his three-year retirement to compete in the Olympics, took the gold. Mathieu Turgeon of Canada won the bronze. Though his best finish in international competition was a third place, Wallace was considered a longshot to win a medal. He even promised to give Zhuravlev the mountain bike he rode to practice every day if he won a medal. So when the final results were posted, it set off a raucous celebration in the SuperDome. Wallace threw his arms in the air as the hometown crowd of 14,000 waved kangaroo flags and serenaded him with chants of "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"
He then grabbed an Australian flag and sprinted around the arena, stopping occasionally to wave at the fans. "Two years ago when I came to Australia, I told everyone we could win a gold medal," Zhuravlev said. "I'm sorry I was wrong. It was just silver. But we have a good medal and I am very happy." So was Turgeon. Not to be outdone by Wallace's romp, Turgeon grabbed the Canadian flag and raced across the podium. Even the serious-looking Moskalenko got into the act. Showing a little more restraint than his fellow medal winners, Moskalenko walked along the side of the floor, holding the Russian flag above his head. "It's no secret that for all sports the Olympic Games is the actual peak, the top," Moskalenko said. "This is the moment which is the moment of truth for each sportsman." And the cynics say trampoline doesn't belong in the Olympics. Trampoline is making its Olympic debut at the Sydney Games, and it's drawn more than its fair share of guffaws. This is, after all, child's play. Put a trampoline in someone's back yard, and kids will flock to it like an ice cream truck when that annoying bell starts ringing. It didn't help the sport's image that carnival music played on the P.A. system and competitors wore sherbert-colored uniforms. A few even changed their outfits for the finals. And then there was the coach of the Netherlands' Alan Villafuerte. Standing at the edge of the trampoline, he watched Villafuerte's routines like they were tennis matches, his head cocked to one side, bouncing up and down with each trick. But trampolinists insist they deserve to be at the Olympics just as much as Marion Jones or Ian Thorpe. The male bouncers made their cohorts in artistic gymnastics look like 'fraidy-cats as they hurled themselves 30 feet in the air, flipping and twisting. They threw so many somersaults and twists in it's a wonder they didn't walk with a wobble after they got off the mat. And talk about extreme sports. Villafuerte landed on his head after he got off-center on one of his flips in the finals. "I think every kid has a trampoline," Wallace said. "It was thought of as a backyard sport. I hope tonight will change that." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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