The Globe and Mail

Trampoline coach Chris Martin heard someone shouting his name from the other side of the playground, and his chest tightened. One of his young athletes was standing atop the high monkey bars yelling for the coach’s attention as others watched. The boy propelled himself into a back-flip off the bars and stuck a perfect landing in the dirt.

Once Martin got his heart out of his throat during that otherwise uneventful outdoor break at trampoline camp, he figured that kid might have the natural talent – and guts – for competitive trampoline.

Now 15 years after he started in the sport, that daredevil drive still fuels 25-year-old trampolinist Jason Burnett as he trains for his second Olympics. He now jumps so high at Skyriders Trampoline Place in Richmond Hill that he can grab the rafters and swing from them. His name is scrawled in marker atop a list on the club’s measurement wall, which documents the most difficult of high-flying routines performed there.

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