Olympic gold treating Rosie just fine

April 23, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner

The King Weekly-Sentinel recently caught up with Rosie to see how life has been since winning Canada’s lone gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games.
Although the life of a world class athlete is pretty hectic, Rosie is currently earning her master’s degree in exercise science at the University of Toronto.
Focusing on physical cultural side of sport, Rosie said she has been looking at corporate-social responsibility in sport and athletes’ involvement in social initiatives and is looking forward to doing her own research soon.
But the young star isn’t just studying the topic, but has also been getting involved with a variety of charitable organizations like Right to Play, Kids Now and Delisle Youth Services. Right to Play helps disadvantaged youth get involved in sports, Kids Now and Delisle Youth Services offer support to youth in need.
“It’s been really cool getting to know the programs a little bit and getting involved with actual people that are in the organization,” Rosie said. “I have really enjoyed getting involved with all these different organizations. Just being able to meet so many different people, that is one of the things that this opportunity has afforded me that I have enjoyed the most.”
Between her work with these organizations and school, Rosie admitted that the rest of her time is mostly spent training for her next challenge.
“I am training – I haven’t been jumping for the past few weeks, because of an ankle injury, but I got clearance to jump starting next week, so I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to it,” she said. “I have a lot of motivation and a lot of drive, so I’m looking forward to this season once I get back up and going.”
And it’s a good thing her ankle is healing up, with meets starting this month, nationals in Ottawa at the end of May, international competitions in June and July and then worlds in November.
“We typically have six international meets every year, so we get to go to a lot of really cool places,” she explained. “This year I’m really looking forward to July because we get to go to Columbia for the world games for synchronized trampoline.”
In terms of continuing her recent successes, Rosie said it’s all about working hard and planning ahead.
“I sat down with my coach a couple weeks after the Olympics in London and he said, ‘all right, you know now that what you did in London is no longer good enough, what do you want to do?’ and we kind of just sat down and thought about where the sport might be in four years and we came up with some ideas.
“I remember even after Beijing (2008), we knew that next time we would have to do a lot more, so you just kind of try to plan for that so you’re ready and not scrambling at the last minute, so you make pushes and changes in the first year, you’re set.”
However, until the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there are plenty of competitions and meets to prepare and get ready.
Even though she has already reached the top of the Olympic podium at just 24 years old, Rosie said she still has her sights set on maintaining her upward trajectory in the sport.
“Within sport I have my own personal goals,” she said. “I’ve never really been focused on outcome as much, I’ve been very fortunate with the outcomes I’ve had, but I’ve always found that I enjoy the sport more when I have my own goals and just try to jump higher.”
Her Olympic gold has obviously resonated among young athletes in Canada, but Rosie wasn’t willing to take all the credit for the growth spurt the sport is currently experiencing.
“I think over the course of all the games we’ve been in, because we’ve had success with Karen’s (Cockburn) medals, Matt’s (Turgeon) and Jason’s (Burnett) medals, our sport is constantly growing. It’s not just my results that have allowed that to happen, but I think it’s just helped to continue that path,” she said with modesty. “More people are getting aware of what the sport is and that it actually is a sport. Enrollment in the sport for the first Ontario meet doubled from what it was last year and I hope it just kind of continues to grow like that.”
While she copes with the busy schedule, she also admitted to missing her quiet home town in King.
“I think I just miss the overall environment up there. It’s so quiet and peaceful and being surrounded by nature – my parents place backs out on to a forest and just being able to go outside for a run or a bike and not worry about being hit by cars is nice,” she said, referencing the busy streets of Toronto. “But I do miss the space and the quiet and obviously my parents and family.”
In the meantime, Rosie’s hard work and determination will keep her in school and on the road doing what she does best.