Karen Cockburn's dream is to win the Olympic gold medal this summer but her first trip to Athens in March at a test event was a nightmare. Cockburn had her worst performance in years when her knee bounced back into her face while she executed a difficult routine in competition. She wasn't seriously injured but did have to take a short break from training. That showing has been an unfortunate blip in a strong international showing by Cockburn since she won the bronze medal in trampoline's Olympic debut in Sydney four years ago.
Since then, Cockburn has been piling up World Cup medals and achieved a career high last year when she won the gold at the world championships. That achievement automatically qualified her for the Olympics.
"I'm adding a new skill for the Olympics which will increase the difficulty of the routine," said Cockburn, a business student at York University, whose boyfriend is teammate Mathieu Turgeon. "That'll be my main focus leading into the Games. I have more confidence now."
Cockburn started training in the sport at age 11. Her coach Dave Ross, also known as Canada's father of trampoline, said she was eager from the onset to learn tougher skills. Cockburn has won the Canadian senior title eight years in a row.
