Canadian trampolinist Jason Burnett announces retirement

Olympic medallist and world record holder Jason Burnett is retiring from competitive trampolining, he has announced.

The Canadian wrote on social media: “I would like to officially announce my retirement from competitive trampoline.

“Trampoline has been my FAVORITE thing since I discovered the sport at age 10 and I am grateful that it has played such a major role in my life.

“My sport has taken me around the world and I have had the opportunities to meet many wonderful people along the way….Without them, I would not have developed the skill or the confidence to push the boundaries of our sport and achieve my goals.”

The 34-year-old, whose motto is “go big or go home”, thrived at pushing the limits of difficulty in the trampolining.

He currently holds the world records for the highest difficulty completed in a routine (20.6) and the highest difficulty performed in competition (18.8), which was set at a World Cup in Davos, Switzerland. He has even performed a routine with 10 triple somersaults.

Jason made three appearances at the Olympics. His first was at Beijing 2008, where he came away with a silver medal. This was followed by turns at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

He had been hoping for a fourth appearance, at Tokyo 2020, but has not decided that it is now time to call it a day.

In recent months, he has moved from Toronto, where he trained under Dave Ross at Skyriders, to Vancouver, where he coaches at Shasta Trampoline Club. He continues to be a stuntman.

“I can’t imagine life without jumping on a trampoline,” Burnett has said previously.

“I would love to jump forever, but injuries and age will catch up to me at some point. I just love what I do, and I never choose to stop.”

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