Good As Gold

M-NCPPC, Department of Parks and Recreation Gymnast Wins Gold Medal in Women’s Individual Trampoline

You can’t keep a good woman down – especially when she’s a gold medal-winning gymnast and her name is Jessica Stevens.  

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Department of Parks and Recreation joined family, coaches, friends and teammates in congratulating Jessica Stevens, a gymnast at Fairland Sports and Aquatics Complex in Laurel, MD, on placing first in the 2019 USA Gymnastics Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa.

Stevens’ performance secured her a coveted spot on 2019/2020 US National Trampoline Team.

The gymnast jumped high and clean in her final routine tallying a total score of 154.750 over the July 4 weekend, bringing the gold back to Maryland as a fitting moment for her 19th birthday. 

“It was a great birthday present,” Stevens remarked in a post competition interview with USA Gymnastics. 

Stevens has been an athlete at Fairland Sports and Aquatics for the past six years in their Trampoline & Tumbling program, headed by Konstantin Gulisashvili, Head Trampoline & Tumbling Coach for the past 17 years. The recent win puts her one step closer to qualifying for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan in August 2020.

Through gymnastics, Stevens has been able to travel and represent Fairland around the globe. She’s won the bronze medal in synchro at the 2015 World Age Group Competition in Odense, Denmark, represented the United States in the World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria in November 2017, and was a part of the team that won the silver medal in the Pacific Rim Championships in Medellin, Colombia. Stevens became the top level, senior elite, in 2017 and is currently a member of the US Senior National Team. She also traveled with the team in 2018 to Lima, Peru and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Stevens will continue to balance her training time with college as she pursues a degree in criminal justice at Howard Community College, in hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, which will be held in August 2020.