The Liverpool trampolining star who can't wait to wow on debut in Paris

Liverpool gymnast Zak Perzamanos wants to wow the crowds this summer following selection for his first Olympics.

With European and World Championship medals now under his belt, Perzamanos’ Olympic debut marks the apex of his rise to the top of the sport.

Perzamanos could make Olympic history on the trampoline and has urged the British public to tune in for Paris 2024.

“It’s a very thrilling sport to watch,” he said.

“Usually for people that don't watch it, they'll see someone do a good routine and go: ‘wow.’ And then they'll see someone fall and their heads will fall off, so it's a very exciting sport.

“It’s the fear factor and the risk of it. People jump so high and they're doing all these mad skills.

“I think people would appreciate it if they just sat down and watched it but it's not a very known sport so people don't even think to tune in but definitely give it a go. I’ll try my best to put it on the map this summer.”

Perzamanos points to his first senior World Championships as the launch pad on his road to Paris.

In Baku in 2021, he won team bronze and finished ninth in the individual event, fuelling his confidence that he could mix it with the world’s best.

Now, the 21-year-old has the chance to catapult himself into the record books: if he eclipses Lee Brearley’s sixth-place finish from Sydney 2000, he will become the best British male trampolinist in Olympic history.

“It was quite unexpected for me to finish so high at the worlds so it was then I thought I could seriously start getting into these higher ranks and pushing for it, so when the cycle started I had a bit more belief that I could actually push to get this spot,” he said.

“It’s unreal to be selected and hasn’t quite sunk in.”

Perzamanos is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – this is vital for his pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

Of the six men and seven women selected in Team GB’s artistic and trampoline squad, eight are Olympic debutants and five are returning Olympians, including triple gold medallist Max Whitlock.

“Team GB has proven itself as a serious medal contender in all three of gymnastics disciplines selected and it is fantastic to head to Paris with athletes who not only have Games experience, but experience of standing on that Olympic rostrum,” said Chef de Mission Mark England.

“I am sure all eight Olympic debutants in the team will lean on their experience this summer, and the team will once again make the nation proud.”

Whitlock will spearhead the men’s artistic team and will become the first gymnast to win four Olympic medals on the same apparatus if he adds to his two golds and a bronze on the pommel horse in Paris.

“This Olympics is even more crazy for me because it’s going be my last one," commented Whitlock. “I am excited to trust the process and give it everything I’ve got as there’s nothing to lose at this stage."

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