--- title: Trampoline Gymnast Jumps to the Top date: 2023-11-09T05:30:00-05:00 author: University of Maryland canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/trampoline-gymnast-jumps-to-the-top" section: Articles --- # Trampoline Gymnast Jumps to the Top *November 9, 2023* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih) > Undergrad Heads to World Championships with Olympic Berth on the Line *399036792 876105560546959 1186539080619048002 n 1920x1080 — Trampoline gymnast Jessica Stevens '24, left, and Nicole Ahsinger, flip through the air during their gold medal-winning synchronized routine at the Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, on Nov. 4. Now, Stevens hopes to qualify the U.S. for an Olympic berth by placing top 8 at the World Trampoline Championships Nov. 9-12.* *Editor's Note: Jessica Stevens [was selected to represent the United States](https://x.com/USAGym/status/1806169226836631613) at the 2024 Olympic Games at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in late June. She [placed 13th](https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/results/trampoline-gymnastics/women/qual000001--) in the qualification round.* Jessica Stevens ’24 starts out steadily. One bounce. Two. Three. Then suddenly, she rockets into a triple flip, two stories in the air, and springs back up into a dizzying series of tucks and twists, forward and backward, like Tigger unleashed—but with perfectly pointed toes. This isn’t playtime on a backyard trampoline. The University of Maryland senior is one of the world’s top athletes in trampoline gymnastics. She [won a bronze medal at the world championships](https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/stevens-procures-bronze-at-world-championships) in November—the first American in half a century to earn a podium spot—and qualified the United States for a berth at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. “I still can’t believe it,” she says. “I go back and watch my videos, and I’m like, ‘Wait a second—that was me!’” Trampoline gymnastics, an Olympic event since 2000, is a separate discipline from better-known, Simone Biles-dominated artistic gymnastics (which includes balance beam, uneven bars, vault and a floor routine). Trampoline athletes are judged on how well they can execute 10 skills during a roughly one-minute routine as they reach heights of 15 feet or more, flipping and twisting while trying to stay centered. “I love the feeling of flying,” said Stevens. “It’s so peaceful up in the air.” \[*[Skating to Success: Ice Dancer Aims to Medal at National Championships](https://today.umd.edu/skating-to-success)*\] She started in gymnastics as part of “Mommy and Me” classes as just a toddler, and as a little kid, quickly realized her favorite part was jumping on the trampoline. By the time she was 13, she qualified for the national team, and by 17, she had reached the highest level of the sport and competed at the world championships in Bulgaria for the first time. There, two-time Olympic gold medalist Rosie MacLennan of Canada approached Stevens and said, “Hi, you must be Jessica!” “I was like, ‘Oh my god, she’s talking to *me*.’ She’s such a legend in the sport. It really hit me that I was competing among the best,” Stevens said. Her schedule is relentless. The U.S. competition circuit runs from February through June, and international competitions dot the year, so she rarely has downtime. She starts her day at 7:30, juggling in-person and online classes with two training sessions at the Fairland Sports and Aquatics Complex in Laurel, Md., where she works on her trampoline skills as well as strengthening her core and other conditioning. Despite the demands of the sport, she decided not to delay higher education so she could set herself up for the future. *two female athletes show off gold medals — Stevens (left) and Ahsinger show off their gold medals from the Pan Am Games.* [Youtube Embed related to Trampoline Gymnast Jumps to the Top](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42l6jTHotqA?si=Kun5wyFU5HLvogsv) **Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people) **Tags:** [Criminology and Criminal Justice](https://today.umd.edu/topic/criminology-and-criminal-justice), [Languages](https://today.umd.edu/topic/languages), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience) **Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities), [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice](https://today.umd.edu/topic/department-criminology-and-criminal-justice)