Lu delivers China's first gold in Men's Trampoline

Lu Chunlong in competition. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

(BEIJING, August 19) -- Lu Chunlong of China became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic title in Gymnastics Trampoline, in the Men's final at the National Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Lu, the top qualifier to the eight-man final, scored 41.00 to take the gold medal. He was one of four finalists with a 16.20 difficulty level but he rose above the others with his superior execution scores.

The three medalists: Lu (C), Burnett (L) and Dong (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Seventh-placed qualifier Jason Burnett of Canada performed the highest level of difficulty (16.80) and earned the silver medal with a steady performance (40.70). Burnett's was the best Trampoline result by a Canadian man in Olympic history.

Dong Dong of China, who at age 19 was the youngest male competitor, won the bronze medal (40.60) for his clean routine. Dong, who qualified second to the final, placed second at the 2007 world championships. Lu's and Dong's medals were the first Trampoline medals for the Chinese men in Olympic history.

Sotomura Tetsuya of Japan and Athens 2004 gold medalist Yuriy Nikitin of Ukraine each scored 39.80 but Sotomura placed fourth based on his better execution scores.