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Ji Wallace

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Ji Wallace
Born (1977-06-23) 23 June 1977 (age 47)
Logan, Victoria, Australia
HometownBrisbane
Height179 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineTrampoline gymnastics
Country represented Australia
Medal record
Men's trampoline gymnastics
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Individual
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Vancouver Double mini
Silver medal – second place 1996 Vancouver Double mini team
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Portugal Double mini team
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Sydney Double mini team
World Games
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Lahti Synchro

Ji Wallace (born 23 June 1977 in Lismore, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian trampoline gymnast and Olympic silver medalist.

Earlier in his career, Wallace won several Australian national titles and made an international breakthrough in 1996 by winning gold in the double mini trampoline (DMT) discipline at the 19th Trampoline World Championships in Vancouver.[1]

In the world championships held in Sydney, he set a world record for completing a jump with the highest degree of difficulty in the DMT, a triple-triple.[citation needed]

He competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he received a silver medal in trampoline.[2][3]

In 2005, he came out publicly as gay,[4][5] and was the first Australian to be named a Gay Games Ambassador.[6] In an August 2012 letter to the Sydney Star Observer, a gay-oriented weekly tabloid newspaper, he revealed he is HIV-positive.[7][8]

Wallace returned to his trampoline roots to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, but missed Olympic selection at the 2007 World Championships in Quebec, Canada.

Wallace was a cast member with the Cirque du Soleil in their show ZAIA in Macau, China. In October 2008 while performing an acrobatic move, Ji fell badly causing significant injuries;[9] he spent 21 months rehabilitating his right ankle, learning to walk again. In August 2010, he took a coaching job in Montreal at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters but, in 2012, returned to his native Australia,[9] where he is now head coach of Sky School, a trampoline program run by trampoline park chain Sky Zone.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "1996 World Championships Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  2. ^ "2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia – Gymnastics" Archived 2008-08-23 at the Wayback Machine databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 15 August 2008)
  3. ^ CNN/SI report on the trampolin final
  4. ^ Interview with "Sydney Morning Herald"
  5. ^ de Jonk, Travis (27 May 2008). "Out And Proud Diver Makes A Splash on". Samesame.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  6. ^ Federation of Gay Games player profile Archived 2008-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Aussie Olympian reveals HIV status | Star Online". Starobserver.com.au. 8 August 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  8. ^ Garcia, Michelle (8 August 2012). "Gay Olympian Comes Out as HIV-Positive". HIVPlusMag.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  9. ^ a b Zeigler, Cyd (4 December 2020). "Ji Wallace became an Olympic hero 20 years ago then came out as gay". Outsports. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  10. ^ McLaughlin, Molly (19 January 2016). "Sky School Reaches New Heights". Retrieved 9 January 2022.
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