George Nissen

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Nissen (bottom left) playing spaceball (1965)

George P. Nissen (born February 1, 1914 in Blairstown , Iowa , † April 7, 2010 in San Diego , California ) was an American gymnast who invented the modern trampoline .

Life

Nissen came into contact with gymnastics during his school career. He became a member of a local gymnastics association. In high school he then devoted himself more intensively to gymnastics.

While attending a circus event with his family, he came up with the idea of ​​later inventing the modern trampoline. He observed gymnasts on the trapeze and paid particular attention to the safety net on which the artists landed at the end of a performance. Due to their elasticity, they were able to make elegant movements and they were protected by the net. Nissen came to the conclusion that this device was well suited for school gymnastics, as it also allowed you to make elegant figures. He invented the name trampoline after the Spanish word for " springboard ". In 1941 he and Laurens (Larry) V. Griswold opened the Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Company in Cedar Rapids , Iowa, to manufacture and sell gymnastics equipment. During the Second World War he served in the Navy and the trampolines were used for air orientation in pilot training.

After the war, Nissen began organizing trampoline competitions around the world. A 1960 commercial showed him jumping on a trampoline with a rented kangaroo in Central Park, New York.

For many years he worked to ensure that the sport of trampolines would become Olympic and was present at the first Olympic trampoline exercise at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Nissen died in a hospital in San Diego of complications from pneumonia.

Honors

The oldest trampoline competition, the Nissen Cup, which has been taking place in Davos since 1958 , was named after him.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/la-me-george-issen10-2010apr10,0,393341.story
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stv-fsg.ch

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personal data
SURNAME Nits, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nissen, George P.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American gymnast
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Blairstown , Iowa
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 2010
Place of death San Diego , California