'Never give up': SA gymnast Matthew Bosch on making world trampoline final

Gymnast Matthew Bosch finished sixth overall with a total score of 27.50 in the senior Trampoline Gymnastics (TRA) 2025 World Championships finals.

Bosch was among the athletes selected to represent South Africa at the 38th Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships, which were held at the Navarra Arena in Pamplona, Spain, from 6-9 November. 

According to Gymnastics South Africa, Bosch is the first male gymnast from South Africa to qualify for the finals since 2014.

READ: South African trampolinist Matthew Bosch selected for World Championships

The championships featured individual and synchronised trampoline, as well as tumbling and double mini-trampoline events.

The 25-year-old from Gqeberha said that one of the biggest lessons he has learned from the sport is to never give up, especially after tearing a hamstring, which meant he had to pull out of the 2021 world championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this sport is to never give up. There have been many times where I have not performed the way I wanted to—when training goes so well and then the comp comes, you don’t do as well as you have done in the training—but I have never given up," Bosch told Eyewitness News.

"I’m always coming back for more, because it’s the sport I love and enjoy the most."

He told Eyewitness News that at the past two world championships, he had made it into the semi-finals and that going into the 2025 world championships, he hoped to make it to the finals, which he did.

"So this year I would like to achieve a final or place on the podium for double mini, and I would like to make a semi-final for trampoline."

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