Tumbling sensation soaring to stardom

Sixteen-year-old British phenom hoping to emulate her hero Biles

Naana Oppon, the newly crowned British tumbling champion at the age of 16, heads to the Trampolining World Championships this week confident of winning a medal and encouraging more "black or girls of color" to take up the sport.

The engaging Oppon says she "loves seeing the world upside down" as she jumps and twists down the 25-meter track with only her hands and feet allowed to touch the surface.

"As much as you have to stay focused there is also a sense of freedom and it is great fun," she told AFP in a Zoom interview.

"It comes with a lot of skills. It is a very power-based sport and that was what drew me in."

Oppon says she was a "very active girl" and aged four took up tumbling, a trampoline discipline that falls under the auspices of the International Gymnastics Federation.

Her progress has been so swift that she has been described by coaches as the sport's Usain Bolt and compared to American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles.

Not surprisingly she identifies strongly with the American four-time Olympic gold medalist, and says she "absolutely" hopes she can be as inspirational as Biles.

"In the gym, people doing tumbling specifically do not look like me, either black or people of color. The way Biles carries herself has been a big inspiration," Oppon said.

"I think I have already definitely inspired the black community and people of color to try tumbling out. Anyone can join."

Oppon accepts she could inspire even more to take it up if she were to win a medal at the world championships which take place in the English city of Birmingham from Thursday to Sunday.

"I do definitely think it's realistic to win a medal in the team or individual," she said.

"It would mean a lot to win a medal as it means all the hard work and sacrifices made by me and my family were worthwhile."

For Oppon to fulfill her dream, she has had to lead a life far from that of a normal teenager.

"I have made quite a few sacrifices, especially my social life and hanging out with friends," she said.

"I have also been a little behind with schoolwork because I have been training in two gyms for the past year and a half.

"However, it balances out in the end, I guess."

Her parents, mother Antonia and father Paul, have also sacrificed a lot by, at one point, taking two jobs each to finance expenses that amount to roughly 700 pounds ($850) a month — as tumbling does not receive the funding from the UK lottery that Olympic sports do.

However, supermarket worker Antonia gave up one of her jobs so she could drive Oppon to one of the gyms that is quite a distance from their home.

Paul still works two jobs and Oppon says her sister is also supportive of her sporting pursuits.

The British title in September, therefore, made her proud that she had repaid their time and effort.

"I am very, very proud of myself as it was not really what I expected to do," she said.

"I was really just hoping to do my best, but I did even better than that and came out on top. It was a very nice outcome."

Circus dream

As it turns out she was not so far behind in her schoolwork and despite being "very, very nervous "about her GCSE exams she got "very good" results.

Oppon says while she is focused on her sport — the worlds are the pinnacle for her discipline as it is not part of the trampolining category at the Olympics — she also has an eye on what is to come after school.

Further down the line she envisages "learning sign language" and either being a sports physiotherapist or a sports psychologist — but before then a year at the circus appeals, but no ordinary one.

"I would like to take a year off after school and join Cirque du Soleil," she said. "It would be a really amazing experience to be part of that.

"After all, tumbling is quite a part of it."

AFP