Maddie Davidson | |
---|---|
Full name | Madaline Davidson |
Country represented | New Zealand |
Born | Christchurch | 8 January 1999
Discipline | Trampoline gymnastics |
Club | Olympia Gymnastic Sports |
Head coach(es) | Alex Nilov |
Madaline Davidson (born 8 January 1999)[1] is a New Zealand trampoline gymnast. She competed at the 2020 Olympic Games and finished tenth in the qualification, making her the second reserve for the final.[2] She is the first female trampolinist to represent New Zealand at the Olympics.[3]
Maddie Davidson was born on 8 January 1999 in Christchurch.[4] Her parents enrolled her in trampoline classes after she began jumping on a family friend's backyard trampoline.[3] She trains at Olympia Gymnastic Sports in Christchurch under coach Alex Nilov.[4] In order to fund her training, she works as a trampoline coach and also as a personal assistant for an accountant.[5]
Davidson began competing with Alexa Kennedy in synchro competitions in 2018 despite the two living and training on opposite ends of the country.[5] At the 2018 World Cup in Maebashi, the pair finished sixth, and Davidson finished sixteenth as an individual.[6][7] Then at the 2018 World Championships in Saint Petersburg, Kennedy and Davidson finished fourteenth in the qualification round.[8] Individually, Davidson qualified into the semifinals where she finished thirteenth.[9]
At the 2019 World Cup in Minsk, she won the bronze medal in the synchro event with Kennedy.[10] Davidson only competed as an individual at the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, and she only finished forty-second in the qualification round.[11] She finished fourth at the 2021 World Cup in Brescia.[12]
Davidson was selected to compete at the postponed 2020 Olympic Games, which made her the first female trampolinist to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games.[3][4] Gymnastics New Zealand chief executive Tony Compier remarked that her achievement was a "watershed moment ... one we hope will be inspirational to all young girls and women in our sport."[3] At the Olympics, Davidson finished tenth in the qualification round with a total score of 93.140, which made her the second reserve for the final.[2]