China's He Wenna waves after competing in the women's trampoline final of the artistic gymnastics event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing on August 18, 2008. China's He Wenna won the gold, Canada's Karen Cockburn the silver and Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Khilko the bronze. [Agencies]
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China's He Wenna won the first Olympic trampoline gold medal for her country before overjoyed home fans on August 18.
He took the title with a collection of 37.8 points. Karen Cockburn from Canada took the silver in 37.8 points, and the bronze went to Ekaterina Khilko, from Uzbekistan.
He entered the final in first place, after her teammate Huang Shanshan, who won China's first trampoline medal, a bronze, in the Athens Olympic in 2004, failed to make the final.
The 19-year-old, who finished 4th in last year's world championships, overcame the pressure piled up on her from home crowd and presented difficult somersaults and twists in the air.
Cockburn, the silver medalist in Athens and bronze medalist in Sydney, realized her goal of a podium finish, with a difficulty score of 14.4 points, 0.1 points lower than He's.
Defending Olympic champion Anna Dogonadze, from Germany, felt on the mat in the middle of her routine and only scored 18.9 points, finishing last among the 8 finals.
"I had thought of running in a big circle to celebrate, but I decided it's more meaningful to jump onto the trampoline net to cheer," said an all-smile He. She jumped onto the net, waving China's national flag to the stands.
He said her teammate Huang encouraged her last night. "She (Huang) told me to go for the gold medal," she said.