1st U.S. Medalist In 49 Years At World Trampoline Championships Hails From Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — One of the world's top athletes in trampoline gymnastics hails from Howard County and she recently became the first American medalist at the world trampoline championships in 49 years.

Jessica Stevens, a senior at the University of Maryland, recently won two gold medals in the individual and synchronized events at the Pan-American Games in Chile. At the World Trampoline Championships in England, she won a bronze medal that qualified her for the 2024 Olympic Games in July.

“I’m really proud of where I am right now,” Stevens told Maryland Today. “I really want to get to the Olympics, but you also have to enjoy the journey.”

Trampoline gymnastics, an Olympic event since 2000, is different than artistic gymnastics that involves the balance beam, uneven bars, vault and a floor routine. Trampoline athletes are judged on how well they can execute 10 skills during a roughly one-minute routine as they reach heights of 15 feet or more, flipping and twisting while trying to stay centered.

“I love the feeling of flying,” Stevens said. “It’s so peaceful up in the air.”

Stevens started gymnastics when she was just a toddler, taking "Mommy and Me" classes. By the time she was 13, she qualified for the national team, and by 17, she had reached the highest level of the sport and competed at the world championships in Bulgaria for the first time.

The 2018 Centennial High School graduate earned an associate’s degree at Howard Community College and will graduate in the spring from UMD with a criminology and criminal justice major and a Russian studies minor.