History made at Olympic Test Event
Dylan Schmidt from Auckland’s Extreme Trampoline has this morning qualified New Zealand’s first ever trampoline Olympic
spot, at the Test Event in Rio.
As with the two gymnastics spots already qualified, confirmation is dependent on selection from the NZ Olympic Committee
by meeting their over-riding criteria of a top 16 capability with top 8 potential in Rio.
Dylan ended his junior career winning gold at the Youth Olympics in 2014. His senior career has seen two consecutive
world top 16 finishes (15th and 9th). Bronze at the Pacific Rim Championships last week, and silver at Test Event finals
this morning further reinforces his Olympic top 8 potential. This should essentially rubber stamp his selection to the
NZ Olympic team.
GymSports NZ will be presenting his nomination to the NZOC the first week of May, after which a positive selection
announcement is expected soon after.
Quotes
“It’s a surreal feeling to have qualified my spot at the Olympics. And a huge honour to be the first NZ trampoline
athlete to do so. I just feel a huge weight off my shoulders now that this part is over and all my hard work has paid
off. I can’t wait to get back in the gym and keep training hard to do the best I can in 4 months’ time.” - Dylan Schmidt
“Dylan is a special athlete. At 18 he only just missed auto qualifying at last year’s World Champs and today he came and
made a statement. He is ready for Rio and he was determined to make the final and make NZ proud. To come away with the
silver medal was sensational. But what’s exciting is we know he can still do better.” - Jarrod Heriot, Dylan’s coach
“This is an outstanding achievement by Dylan and all the team who have supported him. To qualify our first ever
trampoline athlete to the Olympics is a tremendous boost to the sport in NZ and is testimony to the great work the
trampoline community is doing in preparing athletes for such a high level of competition. Only 16 athletes compete in
Rio so Dylan is among the elite, and with his silver medal at the test event, is fully deserving to be so.” - Tony Compier, CEO, GymSports NZ
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