BEIJING - Jason Burnett's nickname around the Skyriders trampoline club in Toronto is Skills.
He was given the handle because he's known for doing all kinds of crazy, over-the-top tricks on the trampoline in training. Some of those tricks are so ridiculous that they are more likely to end up on the Internet than in a competition.
Just punch his name into YouTube and you'll get a taste of what Burnett is all about -- pushing the envelope.
It paid off Tuesday at the Beijing Olympics as Burnett nailed a routine that had the highest degree of difficulty in the competition to capture a silver medal in men's trampoline.
The 21-year-old from Toronto scored 40.7 points on his 20-second routine, which had a 16.8 degree of difficulty. The next highest DOD was 16.2.
Lu Chunlong of China, one of the competitors with a 16.2 degree of difficulty, won gold with 41 points while countryman Dong Dong won bronze with 40.6 at the packed, 18,000-seat National Indoor Stadium.
To calculate degree of difficulty, each trick receives a certain number of points. The harder the trick, the more points it's worth.
Burnett's strategy is to go in with a high degree of difficulty and let the rest of the field try to measure up. It's a risky approach, but it works for him.
"My strategy's always been let's take the lead," said his coach Dave Ross. "If you're good at one thing, why not push the envelope a little past the other guys and make them look bad rather than a sort of conservative strategic routine and see what happens."
Burnett was second up on the trampoline Tuesday and was obviously pleased with his execution, pumping his fist in the air and clasping hands with Ross after he'd dismounted.
But then he had to wait to see if anyone could match his score. Lu was the final competitor to go and he edged the Canadian.
Burnett loves the excitement of watching others try to surpass the high bar he has set.
"It's just that anxiety, that stress," said Burnett. "I just love that part. Just watching the scores pop up and see if they're higher or lower. That's one of my favourite things."
Burnett's second skill -- a double layout with four twists -- in his 10-trick performance was the main reason his routine was so tough.
"That's a lot of flips and twists," said Ross. "That skill was harder than anything else that was done."
There are no easy skills on his list either so nothing will bring his average down.
"To me, he did the best routine today," said Ross. "Actually, all the Soviet coaches who don't speak much English were shaking my hand and saying that my boy was number one."
But Ross knows that even if he and others think Burnett was the best, it's up to the judges to decide.
"When you're in a judged sport, you have to accept the fact that when the routines are very equal, the decision of the judges may not go the way you want it to go," he said. "You're looking at those routines through Canadian eyes."
The result capped a solid meet for the Canadian trampoliners. Karen Cockburn of Toronto won a silver medal Monday while her 19-year-old teammate Rosannagh MacLennan of King City, Ont., competing in her first Olympics, was seventh.
Ross, who runs the Skyriders club, hopes it will inspire others to take up the sport.
"I'm hoping we can get some athletes from other sports who are too short to be successful," he said. "Maybe if you're a sprinter and you're too short to be successful, try trampoline. If you've got good legs, come see us."
Burnett holds the world record for degree of difficulty at 17.5, a number he put up during World Cup event in Lake Placid last year. In training, he's completed routines with difficulty numbers as high as 18.5.
His bouncing exploits can be seen on Internet video websites like YouTube. Flying as high as seven metres, Burnett flips, twists spins and turns in the air at a dizzying speed. In one video, he's doing an entire routine with an inflatable pilates ball in both hands.
Cockburn says he's a joy to watch in the gym.
"He'll just be doing all these tricks we call garbage tricks that aren't things you'd use in competitions because they're just crazy -- off your back, stomach," she said. "His aerial sense is just amazing and the tricks he can perform surpass most people. We're in awe by him."
Ross says there are several reasons Burnett has succeeded at such a high level.
"Being relatively fearless is one of them," said Ross. "The other quality that he has that a lot of the top men in this sport that I've coached in the past haven't had is that when he does a skill right and does it well, he'll do it over and over again. He has the determination and dedication to keep at it until it looks good."
He also spends a lot of time studying himself in training videos to perfect his skills.
Burnett was inspired by Cockburn's husband Mathieu Turgeon, who won a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics eight years ago and used to hold the record for degree of difficulty. The bodysuit that Burnett wore Tuesday night, with a large red Maple Leaf on one side, was inspired by the one Turgeon wore in Sydney.
"When he was a little guy learning the tricks, you could see him watching Matt doing the big tricks that now he's doing and you could just see it on his face -- 'I'm going to do that one day,"' said Ross. "It was a real inspiration for him to see how good Matt could make the skills look."
Burnett, who will start at Seneca College in the fall to study fire protection, has spent a lot of time since he's been in Beijing with his nose in a book. He just finished "Memoirs of Casanova" and is onto "Frankenstein." Also in the pile of books he brought with him are one on Buddhism and another one called "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail."
Ross says Burnett leaves most of his risk-taking on the trampoline. He's not an adrenaline junkie who loves to throw himself out of airplanes or bungee jump off of cliffs. He doesn't even have a lead foot anymore.
"He drives slowly now that he's had enough tickets and his insurance went up," said Ross. "He drives slowly all the time."
