By Steve Keating
TOKYO (Reuters) -Zhu Xueying led a China one-two on the women’s trampoline at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, as Canada’s Rosie MacLennan was denied a golden hat-trick.
Zhu grabbed gold with a score of 56.635 with compatriot Lui Lingling, the 2014 world champion, just .285 behind to snatch silver.
Britain’s Bryony Page, silver medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, collected the bronze ahead of MacLennan, Olympic champion in 2012 and 2016.
Despite having won a combined record 11 Olympic medals on the trampoline Zhu’s victory marked only the second time since the sport was introduced into the Games program in 2000 that China had taken the women’s gold.
He Wenna took top spot for China at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Japan’s hopes for a first ever medal in Olympic trampoline ended with a shock when reigning world champion Hiraru Mori failed to make it out of the qualifying round.
With only the top eight advancing Mori’s chances disappeared on the second of two routines when she nearly flew off the trampoline to finish 13 of 16 athletes.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Tokyo. Editing by Editing by Peter Rutherford & Shri Navaratnam)
