Who won the first Olympic women's trampoline gold medal in 2000?

Irina Karavayeva won the first Olympic women’s trampoline gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Women’s individual trampoline debuted on the Olympic programme in Sydney, making Karavayeva the event’s inaugural champion. The final was held on 22 September 2000, after a qualifying round in which 12 gymnasts competed and eight advanced.

Karavayeva represented Russia and finished with 38.90 points. Ukraine’s Oxana Tsyhuleva won silver with 37.70, while Canada’s Karen Cockburn took bronze with 37.40. Those two names are common mix-ups because they were also the other medalists in the first Olympic final.

Trampoline was introduced alongside men’s individual trampoline in 2000. The sport rewards height, body control, form and difficulty while the gymnast repeatedly returns to the bed, rather than travelling across an apparatus as in artistic gymnastics.