Athlete of the Week: Russell Bolingbroke

Russell Bolingbroke has spent nearly half his life competing, but it wasn’t until the trampoline phenomenon reached Canada that the 22-year-old finally found his true calling.

Growing up in a family of former gymnasts, Bolingbroke followed in his parents’ footsteps and began taking gymnastics at an early age. Although after training for a few years, Bolingbroke realized that gymnastics hadn’t fully captured his attention.

After discovering that gymnastics alone wasn’t for him, a then-12-year-old Bolingbroke turned his attention to Canada’s newest phenomenon — the trampoline.

“You couldn’t keep me off of it,” said Bolingbroke, who coaches Kids SuperGym’s competitive trampoline program. “I really fell into it. I just love the height and it’s something unique and different that not a lot of people have seen.”

Nicknamed Spiderman, Bolingbroke has been competing in trampoline for the past 10 years. Since then, he has increased his mobility and recently scored high enough to earn his Senior Elite status — the highest level in trampoline.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Bolingbroke said. “Next year I’m hoping to travel a lot more to some bigger competitions. There’s the Elite Challenge and Nationals, and I would like to pursue it all the way to Worlds if I can.”

Bolingbroke also plans to begin competing in synchronized trampoline with fellow Canadian Cameron McPherson.

Although trampoline has been Bolingbroke’s passion for the last decade, tumbling has recently garnered his attention.

“I’m starting to see a bit of a shift,” Bolingbroke said. “I find more challenges in tumbling right now; and when I’m doing really well in something I tend to focus on that.”