With plenty of disruptions to the international sporting calendar over the past year, two young Olympic athletes are choosing to focus on the positives.

Canterbury trampolinist Maddie Davidson, puts in six days a week of training at Olympia Gymnastic Sports in Christchurch, it’s where she has trained since taking up the sport in 2007.

For the past week the 22-year-old has been joined at training by Olympian Dylan Schmidt. Schmidt, from Auckland has been training in Christchurch ahead of local trampolining competitions and said he has been enjoying time back in the gym after Auckland’s lockdown.

“It’s been great to be down here; I’ve known Maddie for a long time we’ve toured together and competed together a lot but I’ve never had the opportunity to train with her like this before so it’s been really good. I think we have both had the opportunity to learn from each other,” Schmidt said.

Davidson and Schmidt, both agreed the past year has caused a number of disruptions, with the postponement of the Olympics in Tokyo along with other international tournaments due to covid-19. However, they believe there are still positives to the situation.

“It’s been a good opportunity to really work on different aspects in training and iron out any mistakes. Often, we are looking to peak for different competitions throughout the year and sometimes we might only get a matter of weeks to work on things in between competitions. So, this has been quite good in that regards,” Davidson said.

Olympia Gymnastic Sports General Manager, Malcolm Humm said it’s been fantastic to see Davidson and Schmidt training together.

“I was actually watching them both train during the week and noticed all the kids in the gym just watching and admiring them. They really are great role models for all our members.

 “We are so proud to have Maddie here as a member of our team and to have Dylan choose to train with us when he is here in Canterbury. We pride ourselves on having excellent facilities and equipment as well as a world class trampoline coach in Alex Nilov.”

While Schmidt is looking forward to returning to his life in Auckland and working with his own coach. He said he’s enjoyed his experience in Christchurch.

“It’s been good, I haven’t had a chance to work with Alex as closely before and it’s been nice having Maddie as a training partner. I’m really lucky as an athlete to have the opportunities to train at places like Olympia Gymnastic Sports when I’m away from home.”

Schmidt had his first taste of the Olympics with a seventh-place finish in Rio in 2016. He was New Zealand's first athlete to compete in Trampoline at an Olympic Games.

While his focus is on Tokyo in 2021, he still has sights on Paris 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.

With such strong ambassadors in New Zealand, it’s not hard to see why trampolining is a growing sport.

Humm said it’s certainly something they are seeing at Olympia Gymnastic Sports.

“We are definitely seeing a growth in numbers. We are seeing some kids switching from other gymnastic codes and some kids coming into the sport with no gymnastic background. It’s a really exciting sport for girls and boys and it’s great to see it grow.”

Olympia caters for both boys and girls and with more than 600 members, Humm said it is one of the largest and most successful clubs in New Zealand. 

Follow Sport Canterbury on facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/sportcanterburynz