The 44th Nissen Cup came to an end on August 26, 2006, after suspenseful finals that saw a first in trampoline history: a World Cup win for a Chinese athlete as Huang Shanshan won the women's individual competition.  In the men's, Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN) won his third World Cup competition in a row.

This Nissen Cup held in Savognin, Switzerland, was indeed a category A World Cup event this year.  George Nissen, the 92-year-old inventor of trampoline, after whom the Nissen Cup is called, attended the event.  The organization of the event was flawless thanks to the great job done by Swiss Federation trampoline head Daniel Meier and his team.  All teams enjoyed the success of the competition and the activities offered in the spectacular Savognin surroundings.  

The women's individual final saw the victory of 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Huang Shanshan (CHN - pictured on the right).  This World Cup gold medal for the 20-year-old Chinese athlete was a first as no Chinese athlete had ever won a trampoline World Cup in the past.  It was also the first time that an Asian female athlete won the Nissen Cup.  Overall, it is the third World Cup medal in individual for Huang after her silver medal at the 2003 Levallois World Cup and her bronze medal at the 2005 Ostend World Cup.  The 2006 Chinese Champion performed a very nice routine with good execution and a difficulty slightly higher than her rivals (14.50 pts).  She obtained a total of 38.40 pts. 

2003 World Champion Karen Cockburn (CAN - pictured on the left) also did a very nice routine.  Despite her knee problems that forced her to take a month off this summer, Cockburn was able to step up her difficulty to a 14.20 pt tariff in order to rival the difficulty of the Chinese athletes.  Cockburn's execution was very good, and she took the silver medal of this Nissen Cup with 38.20 pts, just 0.20 pts behind Huang.  Even though Cockburn lost her Nissen Cup Champion title, this silver medal should be regarded as a great accomplishment.  This year has been very fruitful for Cockburn, who won medals at the three World Cups, the gold medal at the Pan American Championships, a bronze medal at the Pacific Alliance Championships, and the Canadian Champion title.

Cockburn's teammate, Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN - pictured on the right) made herself a very nice gift just two days before her 18th birthday.  The Canadian youngster, who was competing in her first World Cup final did not shy away from the pressure.  She performed an impressive routine with very good execution, height and difficulty (14.00 pt tariff).  She obtained a score of 38.10 pts. 

Zhong Xingping (CHN), who had qualified for the final in 1st place after her excellent performance in the preliminaries, suffered from the lack of consistency of her new 14.50 pt tariff, which caused her disappointments at the two previous World Cups.  Jumping last, Zhong crashed after two skills.  She finished 6th as Claire Wright (GBR) and Tatiana Petrenia (BLR) also crashed after two skills earlier in the final.  2-time Olympian Ekaterina Khilko (UZB) performed a clean routine that gave her the 4th place of the final with 37.50 pts.  Her difficulty was a little lower than her rivals' (13.30 pts).  The 2006 U.S. Champion Erin Blanchard (USA), 16, was also competing in her first final of a World Cup.  She took a good 5th place with 35.60 pts.

In the men's, a reclamation changed the name of the winner of this World Cup.  Jason Burnett (CAN - pictured on the left) was originally declared the winner with a score of 41.00 pts.  However, upon review of the video following a reclamation, it was ruled that he had performed two identical millers lay.  Burnett had stepped up his difficulty for this final to a 16.40 pt tariff with apparently a miller lay (i.e., a double back somersault with three twists) as 8th skill of the routine and a miller plus lay (i.e., double full in double full out) as 10th skill of the routine.  Instead, after having performed a very impressive routine with clean execution and minimal traveling, Burnett seemed to decide to settle for another miller lay at the end of the routine, where by spreading the twists differently among the two rotations he could have the skill ruled to be different than his first miller lay.  The judges did not agree after video review.  Accordingly, the 2006 Pan American Champion lost the difficulty value of the second miller, which was initially thought to be a miller plus lay by the judges (2.00 pt value for a miller plus lay).  He finished 5th instead of 1st with 39.00 pts instead of 41.00 pts. 

This ruling allowed 2005 World silver medalist Yasuhiro Ueyama (JPN - pictured on the right) to triumph for the third consecutive time in a World Cup competition.  Ueyama also became the second Japanese athlete to win the Nissen Cup after Kenji Iwamoto, who won the event in 1983.  Ueyama displayed his flawless technique and sharp execution in the final.  He finished with a total of 40.60 pts after having performed a 16.20 pt tariff for the first time in international competition.  He traditionally performs a well-seasoned 15.50 pt tariff.  He had performed this 16.20 pt routine starting with three triffises last year in a couple of Japanese national competitions, but he apparently felt he had to do it for the first time on the international stage in order to top Burnett's performance.  Ueyama's bet proved successful in the end, and he bagged his third consecutive World Cup gold medal after the ones won in Ghent and Krasnodar earlier this year. 

The silver medal was captured by Adam Goetz (GER - pictured on the left)), who to this day is the only German male trampolinist to have won a World Cup in individual.  His routine in Savognin was very impressive (16.00 pt tariff), especially the last seven skills, which almost all landed on the cross.  Goetz obtained a score of 40.30 pts.  Que Zhicheng (CHN - pictured on the right) obtained a new medal at a World Cup event with his traditional 16.70 pt routine that starts with four triffises.  The 2006 Chinese Champion obtained the same score as Goetz (i.e., 40.30 pts), but he had to settle for the bronze medal as his execution marks were lower than Goetz'.  It is the third World Cup medal in Que's career after the bronze medal at the 2005 Ostend World Cup and the silver medal at the 2006 Krasnodar World Cup. 

Former World Champion German Khnychev (RUS) performed a pretty good routine, but had to settle for the 4th place with 39.60 pts (15.70 pt tariff).  8-time U.S. Champion Ryan Weston (USA) took the 6th place of the final with 38.10 pts, followed by local hope Ludovic Martin (36.90 pts), who had to change the last skill of his routine into a double back lay after struggling a little towards the end of his routine.  Dennis Luxon (GER) struggled with a lot of travelings and had to completely reshuffle his routine after the second skill.  He finished 8th with 35.30 pts.  Masaki Hitomi (JPN) could not successfully complete his routine after his full in full out lay (4th skill) landed on the mat.

In the women's synchro event, the top two pairs of last year's World Championships prevailed.  However, this time, it was in the order inverse of the Worlds.  World silver medalists Karen Cockburn-Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN) performed a routine that very in synchro.  They obtained the best synchro marks and won the Nissen Cup / World Cup with 48.00 pts (13.10 pt tariff).  It was the second World Cup win for this pair after their win at the 2005 Levallois World Cup.  World Champions Irina Karavaeva-Natalia Chernova (RUS - pictured on the right) did a nice performance, but it was not sufficient to match the Canadians'.  The 2006 European Champions had to settle for the silver medal with 46.60 pts (13.00 pt).  The bronze medal was won by 2003 synchro World Champion Tatiana Petrenia paired with Ekaterina Mironova (BLR).  They obtained 45.40 pts (12.50 pt tariff).  They were followed more than 2 points behind by pairs from Japan, Ukraine, Germany, Portugal, and Great Britain.

2001 World bronze medalist Alan Villafuerte (NED) signed his come back to international competition with a gold medal in the synchro event of this Nissen Cup, paired with Sven Mooij (NED).  Villafuerte, a former winner of the Nissen Cup in individual, had to go through a shoulder surgery this past winter.  This gold medal in synchro is Villafuerte's first World Cup gold medal in this event since his win at the 1995 World Cup Final in Copenhagen, then paired with his brother Lennard.  As for MacLennan, this gold medal in Savognin was a nice gift to Mooij, whose birthday is also coming in 2 days.  The Dutch pair jumped as if one was the reflection of the other in the mirror.  They obtained very high synchro marks, for a total of 49.50 pts.  Alexander Leven-German Khnychev (RUS) took the silver medal with 48.80 pts thanks to a 15.40 pt tariff.  Scott Brown and Ben Wilden (AUS) captured a good bronze medal with 48.30 pts.  World Champions Nikolai Kazak-Vladimir Kakorko (BLR) had to settle for the 4th place, followed by World silver medalists Michel Boillet-Ludovic Martin (SUI), who could not outperform their rivals despite a strong support from the home crowd showing their love with cow bells.  2006 European silver medalists Nuno Merino-Diogo Ganchinho (POR) could not successfully complete their routine.

The Nissen Cup traditionally hosts a junior event.  The women's competition offered the opportunity to see a new great performance by one of the most promising trampolinists: Anna Savkina (UZB), 16.  Savkina does not yet meet the age requirement to compete in the senior category.  In Savognin, Savkina easily dominated her rivals, performing a 13.10 pt tariff with good execution.  She obtained a score of 36.80 pts and won with a more than 2 pt margin over her rivals.  Savkina made the difference with her tariff, which was approximately 2 points higher than her rivals'.  Savkina recently won the Asian Games test in Doha.  She was also a silver medalist at the 2005 International Age Group Competition.  She seemed to be following the steps of her prestigious elders from Uzbekistan such as Elena Saveleeva, winner of the 1997 World Games, and 2-time Olympian Ekaterina Khilko.  

Savkina's most dangerous rivals were the members of a very consistent British junior team.  Yasmin Gumbs, who was a finalist at the 2006 European Youth Championships, took the silver medal with 34.70 pts.  She was followed by her teammates Danielle Pietruszka (3rd with 34.20 pts) and Cara Jamieson (4th with 34.10 pts).  Alexandra Freeman of Australia was 5th, followed by youngster Katy Ianson (GBR) and local hope Tamara Rey (SUI).  Together, Pietruszka and Gumbs won the synchro competition. 

Jakub Kubiak (POL) won the men's junior competition after a solid performance (35.90 pts -13.10 pt tariff).  He was followed by Michael Freeman (GBR), Loic Schir (SUI), Andrew Freeman (GBR), and Alexis Kovgar (SUI), who were all within 1 point of each other.  Luke Rendell (GBR), who had the lead after the preliminaries was 6th, followed by promising youngster Vladimir Eliseev (UZB).  Together, the Freeman brothers won the synchro competition, edging the Polish pair Jakub Kubiak-Walter Pinto.

Thanks to our on-site reporters Damien Dorna and Michel Bontemps for their extensive coverage of the event.  Thanks also to T&T High Performance Director at the Canadian Gymnastics Federation Stephan Duchesne for his comments and rectification.