The 23-year-old trampoline gymnast from Sydney competed in the strongly contested Double Mini Trampoline discipline, one of two athletes to represent Australia in the twin events. In Santarem, Robinson picked up a bronze medal with Queensland’s Braida Thomas picking up a silver medal. The gold medal was won by Canada’s Gabriella Flynn.
One week later in Coimbra, Robinson bettered her bronze result by picking up the silver medal. The gold medal was won by England’s Kirsty Way, with Robinson the most successful athlete across the two weeks.
Robinson picked up a silver medal in the Double Mini Trampoline Final in Coimbra.
For Robinson, who originally hails from Queensland before relocating to Sydney in 2016, the medal haul in Portugal was one she never expected to happen.
“My plan was to go in there and complete all my passes on my feet successfully in both events”, Robinson said to SBS Sport. “So to come away with a silver and a bronze with me was something that I didn’t expect.”
She also added that having Braida Thomas as a teammate in the DMT discipline was an added bonus to her success.“Braida was someone that I looked up to as well when I was younger, so to be able to share the podium with her in Santarem is something that I’ll never forget.”
When asked about how the discipline of Double Mini Trampoline works, Robinson compared it to the Vault discipline in artistic gymnastics.
“Double Mini means you’re executing two skills in the one routine,” Robinson explained. “You’re running up to the trampoline up to or from 23 metres down the runway and then doing two skills on the double trampoline itself.
“The first skill is the mount skill, which leads into the dismount skill, where you land on your feet within the red box as your main target. There were a couple of times whilst I was competing in Portugal where I didn’t quite find that red box, but I did eventually find it and it’s just one of the key aspects of the routine.”
Australia's Cheyanna Robinson mid flight in Coimbra.
For Robinson, she is hoping to represent Australia in the team's component of the Double Mini Trampoline competition, a discipline that sees Australia as the defending world champions. The team’s gold, which featured both Robinson and Thomas, Keera Nel and Carina Hagarty in the lineup, was the country’s first Double Mini Trampoline (DMT) gold medal in over 40 years. Robinson also won a bronze in the individual DMT at the same event.
Winning gold and being a part of Australia’s world champion team was something Robinson never expected in her wildest dreams.
“When we went to Bulgaria last year, Keera, Carina, Braida and myself just wanted to go into the DMT Team competition and just enjoy ourselves. We were the same team that contested the 2019 Worlds and finished fourth, so all we wanted to do was to finish our routines on our feet and anything beyond that was just going to be the icing on the cake.
Cheyanna Robinson was a part of Australia's World Championship DMT team, which claimed gold last year in Bulgaria.
Gymnastics Australia will be soon announcing the team that will represent Australia in Birmingham and Robinson is hopeful she will be wearing the green and gold in a few months time. Following the Worlds, she will then focus on being selected for the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China.
Catch up on extended highlights from the FIG Trampoline World Cup in Santarem and Coimbra EXCLUSIVELY on SBS On Demand.
