No Olympic Trampoline gymnast is as decorated as Canada's Cockburn, who earned three Olympic medals -- a silver and two bronze -- over a prosperous career that spanned four Olympic Games. Following the birth of her daughter Emilie (with 2000 Olympic Trampoline bronze medallist Mathieu Turgeon) in 2013, Cockburn took a break from the sport. She returned for the 2015 Pan American Games in her hometown of Toronto, which accorded her a hero's welcome.
The 2012 Olympic champion in Men's Trampoline graced all World and Olympic podiums between 2007 and 2014, his three World titles and two Olympic medals a symbol of China's decade of superiority in Trampoline. Though eclipsed by his younger teammates in 2015, Dong Dong's heart still burns with competitive fire. Chasing the medal record of the great Alexander Moskalenko, he welcomes a third Olympic battle in Rio.
The first Olympic champion in women's Trampoline also demonstrated great sportswomanship off it. At the 2001 World Championships, the judges awarded Karavaeva the title. But the Russian herself did not agree with the result: realising that a judging mistake had robbed Germany's Anna Dogonadze of gold, Karavaeva gave the World medal to her friend and competitor. This generous gesture did not go unnoticed: Karavaeva's actions were lauded by the FIG and IOC, who awarded her with the prestigious International Fair Play award. Karavaeva would go on to recapture the World title in 2005 and 2007.
Two-time World champion Wayne Miller gave the sport of Trampoline one of its eponymous skills, which still bears his name today. The Miller -- a skill combining two flips and three twists -- was the result of trial and error; Miller initially set out to work on a diving skill that involved entering the water head first. Miller's coach suggested adding an extra half twisting somersault at the end, and bringing it to the Trampoline. The final product helped lift him to the World titles in 1966 and 1970. The "Miller" is so hard that the best are still performing it today.
The first king of Olympic Trampoline, Moskalenko dominated the sport during the 1990s, winning five individual world titles between 1990 and 2001. He initially retired in 1998, but returned to the sport shortly after learning Trampoline would be part of the 2000 Olympic programme. His efforts were not in vain: he captured Olympic gold medal in Sydney by a whopping 2.4 points over his nearest competitor. Despite a nagging back, Moskalenko stuck around for another four years, going on to win silver at the Athens Games at the twilight of a brilliant career.