1964 - 1st World Open Trampoline Championships, London

- Trampoline History -

The

WORLD'S FIRST OPEN

TRAMPOLINE CHAMPIONSHIPS

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ROYAL ALBERT HALL - LONDON - ENGLAND

Saturday, March 21st, 1964

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presented by the

Nissen Trampoline Co., Ltd.

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in conjunction with the

British Amateur Gymnastic Association

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The Rules

Ted Blake 

"For the first time in trampoline competition, a double elimination tournament was held in place of the usual gymnastic type scoring system. Participants competed in direct man-to-man competition with winners advancing to the next round and the losers dropping back to the losers consolation bracket. 

"Competitors performed by pairs, each presenting an optional ten bounce routine and remained on the trampoline until the judges announced their decision. The judges had only to decide which competitor was the winner in each competing pair. The decision was immediate and flashed to the audience with either red or blue cards, corresponding to the colors on the trampoline."

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The Competitors

Forty-one athletes participated representing the countries of: Belgium, Denmark, England, West Germany, Holland, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.A. and Wales.

U.S.A. Team
Wayne Miller, Dan Millman, Judy Wills, Gary Erwin

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The Women's Draw & Results

Dennis Horne, "Trampolining; A Complete Handbook." pg. 174

Judy Wills

Judy Wills' winning routine:

"Barani-in fliffis; double back somersault; double back twisting somersault; full twisting back somersault; full twisting back somersault; Rudolph; full twisting back somersault; double back somersault; triple twisting back somersault."

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The Men's Draw & Results

Dennis Horne, "Trampolining; A Complete Handbook." pg. 173

Dan Millman

Dan Millman's winning routine:

"Pike Rudolph out; back somersault with double twist; flying back somersault; double back somersault; flying back somersault; full twisting 1-3/4 back somersault; double twisting cody; flying back somersault; pike 1-3/4 back somersault; double cody."

Read Dan Millman's memories: "It Doesn't Matter Who Wins the Warm-up."

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The Film
George Nissen and Ted Blake had the forethought to commission filming the entire competition. Rob Walker was designated Technical Director; overseeing editing of the final version. For the next several years this 16mm, 20-minute long, "cinema sized" film functioned primarily as a promotional film that George and Ted showed at conventions and trade shows. Sometime during the late 1960's the film went into storage...and wasn't discovered again until 2013, nearly fifty years later!

We thank Rob Walker for keeping the film safe all these years. 
Another thank you goes to Mike Driscoll in England, for transferring the original film into DVD format. 

Now...you too can watch this historic film, on this historic date; 
the 50th anniversary of the World's First Open Trampoline Championships!

View the video on YouTube here.

Read Dan Millman's memories about the competition:
"It Doesn't Matter Who Wins Warm-up" 
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Special acknowledgements go to these persons for their assistance in providing resources for this article: Tim Blake, Mike Driscoll, Rob Walker, and Dennis Horne.

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Links:

Part 3: The F.I.T. is Established

Part 1: Brief History of World Trampoline Competition 

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