Jason Burnett

Biography

Jason Burnett made his Olympic debut at Beijing 2008 where he performed the most difficult routine of the competition to win the silver medal. He went on to reach the eight-man final at London 2012. In 2016, he qualified for and competed at his third Olympic Games in spite of a torn ACL in his right knee, going on to finish 14th.

Burnett’s motto is “go big or go home”. In June 2010 he broke his own world record by recording an 18.8 degree of difficulty at a World Cup meet in Davos, Switzerland.

Burnett has been competing internationally since he was 14, which included a trip to the 2007 Pan Am Games where he won silver. He’s also had to deal with multiple injuries, including surgery on his right knee in October 2014 for a complete ACL tear, second degree MCL tear, medial and lateral meniscus tear, and a bone bruise with microfracture. He was cleared to resume jumping on his feet in March 2015 and went on to finish fourth at the Pan Am Games in Toronto. He also competed at the 2019 Pan Am Games in Lima.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JASON

Getting into the Sport: Started trampoline at age 8… His parents said their kids had to do at least one extra-curricular activity outside of school… His first coach showed him video of circus acrobats; he loved how they could flip, twist and generate so much power seemingly out of nothing… Was a shy kid but after learning a backflip on the floor he gained confidence from showing off to schoolmates… Had to leave his first gym when he was 12 because he could hang onto the ceiling and needed more room to jump higher… Outside Interests: Graduated from University of Toronto in 2014 with a degree in Philosophy… Enjoys tricking/parkour, taekwondo, hiking… Has been a stunt man, including as a double for Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs the World…  RBC Olympian… Athlete ambassador for Right to Play and Kids Now… Odds and Ends: Inspired by Canada’s first Olympic trampolinists, Karen Cockburn and Mathieu Turgeon… Got matching tattoos with Australian 2012 Olympian Blake Gaudry on the bottom of their toes…