Jennifer Parilla Club: Southern California Trampoline Academy Date of Birth: 9th January 1981 USA International Olympic entrant (youngest female Olympic competitor)

Interview at Guildford World Cup, June 24th

How are preparations going for the Olympics?
At the moment I have a slight leg injury and I'm in my down season before the Olympics. You can tell at this event that most of the Olympic atheletes are in this now. You need this so you can build up, get prepared and peak at the right time to be in perfect shape for the Olympics.

Is there any rivalry between the competitors?
Not at all. All of us get along very well, especially since its such a small sport. Its quite small in the USA. You could be competing against a girl and be neck-a-neck with her, yet you'll go hang out with her that night.

What's your favourite competition?
The Olympic test event. It was great to see the venue and to perform in it. The trampolines are up on a platform and there's a big light box shining down really bright, almost like daylight. It was nice to see myself in those surrounding because I do a lot of mental training and I like to imagine myself perform every night.

Any worries?
The biggest worry is healing my leg. Its the only thing keeping me from being the best.

How do you cope with the pressure of competition?
I pretend I'm doing a show and not competing. I pretend there's no judges and I'm just putting on a show. If I still feel any pressure, then I just tell myself "hey I love this sport".

What's your motivation?
I love the sport, I've been doing it since I was 5 years old, there's never been any money or anything else, just a complete love of the sport. I ended up being the perfect age out of high school to go right into the Olympics.

One of the coolest things is that although no male USA competitor made it to the selection for the Olympics (where most countries have a guy and a girl) I feel like the entire US is behind me 100% and I feel like I'm bringing the entire team with me.

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