"Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Australia. At 86 years old, George attended the 2000 Olympics accompanied by his daughter Dian Nissen. Eight years later, George was able to travel to Beijing, China for the 2008 Summer Olympics, with his daughter and grandson. Dian Nissen has been referred to as the International Ambassador for Trampolines because of her continuing involvement with, and promotion of trampolines for fitness, health, sport and recreation around the world. She provides public awareness and education on trampoline safety and the history of the trampoline. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Nissen"
"which includes the events of Trampoline, Synchronized Trampoline, Double Mini-Trampoline & Tumbling. In the early 1930s, George Nissen observed trapeze artistes performing tricks when bouncing off the safety net. He made the first modern trampoline in his garage to reproduce this on a smaller scale and used it to help with his diving and tumbling activities. He formed a company to build trampolines for sale and used a variant of the Spanish word ""trampolin"" (diving board) as a trademark. He used the trampoline to entertain audiences and also let them participate in his demonstrations as part of his marketing strategy."
"the 1970 Special Olympics in Southern California and working with Olympic Decathlete Rafer Johnson at the games. In 1967 Gordon became interested with injection mold plastics. As an accomplished sculptor, he started to build different functional animal shapes to be used as chairs, stools, toyboxes, flotation devices or anything a child could dream up. The company continued until 1974 when plastic prices exploded due to rising oil prices. In 1975 George Nissen, who invented the trampoline in the 1930s, contacted Gordon to consult with his company on the development of next generation landing pits and other products. This joint venture"
"created the Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Company, and began making trampolines commercially in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The generic term for the trademarked trampoline was a ""rebound tumbler"" and the sport began as ""rebound tumbling"". It has since lost its trademark and has become a generic trademark. Early in their development Nissen anticipated trampolines being used in a number of recreational areas, including those involving more than one participant on the same trampoline. One such game was Spaceballa game of two teams of two on a single trampoline with specially constructed end ""walls"" and a middle ""wall"" through which a ball"
"using a tight net to add entertainment value to their performance and experimented by stretching a piece of canvas, in which they had inserted grommets along each side, to an angle iron frame by means of coiled springs. It was initially used to train tumblers but soon became popular in its own right. Nissen explained that the name came from the Spanish ""trampolín"", meaning a diving board. Nissen had heard the word on a demonstration tour in Mexico in the late 1930s and decided to use an anglicized form as the trademark for the apparatus. In 1942, Griswold and Nissen"
"was called Nissen/Gordon and lasted through the end of 1977 when George sold his company and the new owners were not interested in trampolines and landing pits. Gordon had already been working on his own version of Nissen's trampoline game Spaceball and convinced Nissen to sell him the rights for $1.00 to continue developing the game, which eventually became Hi-Ball and later Aeroball. 1978 saw the development of the first Hi-Ball unit. A company in Tallahassee Florida had developed the first Round Trampoline, which Gordon thought would be perfect for his idea. He flew to their facility with his 15-year-old"
"safety net as a form of propulsion and landing device and experimented with different systems of suspension, eventually reducing the net to a practical size for separate performance. While trampoline-like devices were used for shows and in the circus, the story of du Trampolin is almost certainly apocryphal. No documentary evidence has been found to support it. The first modern trampoline was built by George Nissen and Larry Griswold in 1936. Nissen was a gymnastics and diving competitor and Griswold was a tumbler on the gymnastics team, both at the University of Iowa, United States. They had observed trapeze artists"
"the board only to seemingly catch himself at the last moment. Griswold & Nissen worked together to develop the first prototype trampoline. Later they set up a company, the Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Company, to manufacture trampolines. However, initially sales were slow and Griswold sold out as his entertainment career was starting to thrive. In 1945, he found that he had to limit his immersion in water for health reasons and so changed his routine to use a trampoline disguised as a swimming pool in his diving act. This allowed him to play a wider variety of venues. In the"
"as the treasurer for the American Welding Society. Additionally in 2006 he was the American Welding Society’s recipient of the National Meritorious Certificate Award in recognition for his years of service with the organization. Amongst J.P. Nissen's many patented innovations are: - a printing roller which, according to the patent, ""has been particularly useful in the printing of fabric, and especially hosiery, wherein designs, trademarks, and the like, are permanently applied"" issued on Dec 18, 1928. - a marking implement that, according to the patent, could be ""cheaply manufactured, so that when the material is entirely used, the implement can"
"sporting equipment businessman. He founded Ektelon, inventing the world's first aluminum tennis racquet and its related stringing equipment from his San Diego garage, then subsequently the first aluminum racquetball racquet. He also invented a hollow javelin that was used into the 1960s, but his design was later outlawed due to safety concerns. Held was inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1987, the USATF Masters Hall of Fame in 2005 and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. Bud Held Franklin Wesley ""Bud"" Held (born October 25, 1927) is an American athlete primarily"
"George Andreasen George F. Andreasen (February 16, 1934 – August 11, 1989), born in Fremont, Nebraska, was an American orthodontist and inventor. Andreasen, most noted for his invention and patent of the Nitinol Wire, also known as Memory Wire or shape memory alloy, began his experimentation with the nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys as early as 1969. His idea for Nitonal came from an article he read in the United States Naval laboratory publication supplement in the Journal of American Orthodontics. Over the course of the next seven years, Andreasen experimented with his formula until he reached his goal and was awarded"
"that characterize rebound exercise. Rebounders are predominantly used solo in personal homes, but are also found in some health clubs, and physical rehabilitation centers. The modern trampoline was created by George Nissen in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1936. In 1938 the first “small trampoline” was created by Ed Russell, who left his ideas and prototype with Victor Green, who patented the “small trampoline” in 1975. Within a year, five American companies were manufacturing small trampolines, which were soon called rebounders. In part because of business promotional efforts, and in part because of a number of scientific studies that seemed to"
"made available for men and women. Athletic shoes were used by competing athletes at the Olympics, helping to popularise athletic shoes among the general public. In 1936, a French brand, Spring Court, marketed the first canvas tennis shoe featuring signature eight ventilation channels on a vulcanised natural rubber sole. Adolf ""Adi"" Dassler began producing his own sports shoes in his mother's wash kitchen in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, after his return from World War I, and went on to establish one of the leading athletic shoe manufacturers, Adidas. He also successfully marketed his shoes to athletes at the 1936 Summer Olympics, which"
"trampoline inventor George Nissen to design next generation landing pits for his company. Gordon has over 300 products on the market and holds approximately 40 patents. Born in Los Angeles, California to Henry Fairfax Gordon and Anne Marie Gordon, Gordon grew up during the Great Depression and World War II. Gordon was a champion gymnast in high school at Garfield high in Los Angeles, CA where he graduated from in June 1951. That same month he joined the Air Force to serve for four years during the Korean War where he served as a survival instruction and rescue medic stationed"
"financial and athletic positions to build a regional sales office near Hokkaido for the 1972 Winter Olympics. In 1977, all sports brands of the company were merged into the brand ASICS. In 1976, Finnish runner Lasse Virén won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal while wearing Onitsuka Tigers, after having worn Adidas while winning those events in the 1972 Olympics. Today, the company is still known as ASICS and provides shoes to retailers around the globe. The brand was then abandoned and relaunched in 2002, capitalizing on the new trend of vintage sneakers."
"Janssen-Fritsen Janssen-Fritsen Gymnastics b.v. is a manufacturer of professional gymnastics equipment and apparatus, based in the Netherlands. Janssen-Fritsen has supplied equipment to a number of world, European and continental championships, and four Olympic Games. In the mid-1990s the company pioneered the design of the vaulting table, a replacement for the pommel horse-like apparatus used since the 19th century in international competitions. The vaulting table, first introduced at the international level at the 2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, has been used in Gymnastics at the 2004 and the 2008 Summer Olympics. The switch in apparatus has made the sport safer and"
"Taylor's clinics and the Converse company's All Star basketball shoes. Taylor also made his own All-American selections. In addition to selling Converse All Star shoes and conducting basketball clinics, Taylor contributed to the development of the sport in other ways. In 1935 he invented a ""stitchless"" basketball that was easier to control. Taylor also promoted basketball internationally. When basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936, he designed a white high-top model with blue and red trim for the 1936 Olympic Games. The Converse All Star shoe remained the official shoe of the Olympics team from 1936 to 1968. During World"
"Reusch (company) Reusch is a worldwide operating manufacturer of sports equipment for football (mainly goalkeeper gloves) and winter sports. In 1934, Karl Reusch manufactured his first pair of gloves in the attic of his home. The first pairs were sewn by hand. In 1972, he developed the first glove for professional alpine athletes. Together with his son Gebhard, Reusch entered the industry with a collection of specially designed winter gloves. One year later in co-operation with German goalkeeper Sepp Maier, Gebhard Reusch developed the first goalkeeper glove in history. In 1989, Reusch introduced its first skiing apparel and 3 years"
"unreliable, so the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment. Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. In 1936, Dassler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his hand made spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Following Owens' four gold medals, the name and reputation of Dassler shoes became known to the world's sportsmen and their trainers. Business was successful and the"
"the First World War. Nissen patented his invention in the UK in 1916 and patents were taken out later in the United States, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Nissen received royalties from the British government only for their sale after the conflict; he received some £13,000. Production of Nissen huts waned between the wars, but revived in 1939. Nissen Buildings Ltd waived its patent rights for wartime production during the Second World War (1939–45). In the 1917 New Year Honours, Nissen was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his contribution to the war effort. He was awarded the Order of"
"the New Jersey Gems were co-winners of the Most Valuable Player title for the 1979-80 season. The team was disbanded after the 1979-80 season. Iowa Cornets The Iowa Cornets was a team that played for two seasons in the Women's Professional Basketball League. George Nissen purchased the first franchise in the fledgling league on March 21, 1978 for $50,000. Nissen, who had been a star gymnast at the University of Iowa in the 1930s, pioneered the manufacture and sale of the modern trampoline at his Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Co. in Cedar Rapids. The team made it to the league's"
"James Naismith James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator. He invented the game of basketball at age 30 in 1891. He wrote the original basketball rule book and founded the University of Kansas basketball program. Naismith lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Tournament (1939). Born in Canada, Naismith studied physical education at McGill University in"
"Reyn Guyer Reynolds ""Reyn"" Winsor Guyer (born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1935) is an American inventor. Among his notable developments are Twister in 1967 and the NERF ball in 1969, which he developed for Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, respectively. He was inducted into the Hasbro toy and game Inventors' Hall of Fame in 1986. Besides his work as a toy inventor, Guyer has also founded a music publishing company called Wrensong/Reynsong Music of Nashville in 1985. Having struggled with dyslexia himself, Reyn cofounded Winsor Learning in 1991 to help children who also struggle to read. The Sonday System"
"and received a patent on 5 April 1912 for the invention. David and his brother James played a significant part in the evolution of golf equipment. They invented the bramble patterning for Coburn Haskell's new rubber-cored ball. In response to the demands of the new ball they developed the ""mashie-niblick"", the modern 7-iron, which fell between the traditional mashie (5-iron) and niblick (9-iron), and patented the design. Foulis had four brothers (John, James, Robert, and Simpson) who were all professional golfers. He also had two sisters, Annie and Maggie. His brother James won the 1896 U.S. Open. Foulis died in"
"pads. In 1925, it was renamed Wilson-Western Sporting Goods following a distribution agreement with Western Sporting Goods. After Rockne's death, the company focused on golf, introducing the R-90, a sand wedge golf club inspired by Gene Sarazen's victory in the 1932 British Open. In 1931, it renamed itself Wilson Sporting Goods Company. During World War II it introduced the Wilson Duke football, featuring the best leather, ends that were hand-sewn, lock-stitch seams, and triple lining, which was adopted as the official ball of the National Football League. Horween Leather Company has supplied Wilson with pebbled cowhide since 1941 for use"
"of Johns Hopkins Hospital, invented the medical glove in an effort to make medical care safer and more sterile for patients and health care workers. 1895 Cyclocomputer A cyclocomputer or cyclometer is a device mounted on a bicycle that calculates and displays trip information, similar to the instruments in the dashboard of a car. The computer with display, or head unit, usually is attached to the handlebar for easy viewing. In 1895, Curtis Hussey Veeder invented the cyclometer. 1895 Clipless pedal 1895 Volleyball Volleyball is an Olympic sport in which two teams of 6 active players are separated by a"
"structure included disks clamped to either side of the wheel, and a webbed fabric structure integrated into the rubber of the tire. In the same year, Nielsen filed a patent for Wheel Structures comprising a swivel caster with ball bearings. He refiled in 1930, and was granted . The same year he filed and was issued a patent for a caster wheel brake structure, . Nielsen and his family were subject to frequent news coverage, his name frequently misspelled as ""Nielson."" Besides his professional accomplishments and inventions, the local press took a keen interest in his injuries, clashes with the"
"J. P. Nissen Co Nissen Markers, aka J. P. Nissen Co was officially named the John P Nissen Jr Company is a privately held company which is still owned by the founding family based in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1923 to manufacture markers for the textile industry and went on to receive numerous important patents on textile marking devices and methods. It is currently one of the largest manufacturers of industrial markers in the world. In 1923, John P. Nissen Jr. founded the J. P. Nissen Jr. Company in Philadelphia. Prior to founding the company, John Nissen"
"crew remains the standard to this day. Dicker-rod The dicker-rod (also spelled dickerod) was used in the now defunct World Football League in 1974 for the purpose of replacing the first down chains more commonly used in gridiron football organizations. The device was invented and patented by George Dicker (for whom the device is named) of Orange County, California. The eponymous device was two and a half yards (90 inches) long. If a ball was placed on the 23-yard line, a marker would be placed 2 yards up the dicker-rod at the 25-yard line. Then, in order to measure whether"
"spurred Lindon in the mid-1860s to pioneer the ""rubber bladder"", the Brass Hand pump inflator and finally the advent of shape standardisation. When William died his nephew James succeeded him. And he had another nephew named Daniel. William Gilbert (rugby) William Gilbert (1799–1877) established Gilbert company, the manufacturer of sports equipment, in 1823. Gilbert had a boot and shoemakers shop in the high street next to Rugby School and started making balls for the school out of hand stitched, four-panel, leather casings and pig bladders. It is the shape of the pig's bladder that is reputed to have given the"
"is still used by numerous pros and national teams, and has been a constant in the past 3 Olympic triathlon events. At ISPO Munich 2014, Kiwami presented a revolutionary trisuit - the Spider WS1. A jury of international sports industry experts carried out detailed assessments and testing of more than 400 products and selected the Kiwami trisuit as winner of the Gold Award for best performance Base Layer Product. Kiwami sponsors a certain number of world-class triathletes and teams around the world. It's the official partner of the Netherlands, the South African and the Argentinian federations. Kiwami helps many professional"
"endorsees. David Ortiz, Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, and Miguel Tejada formerly used Nokona wooden bats. Products include a wide selection of baseball gloves. Nocona Athletic Goods Company Nokona Athletic Goods Company (originally known as Nocona Leather Goods Company and stylized as Nokona) was founded in 1926 by the Storey family in Nocona, Texas. In 1934, The Nokona baseball glove was trademarked (spelled with a ""k"" when the United States Patent and Trademark Office would not allow the name of an incorporated town to be registered). Today, Nocona Athletic Goods is one of a handful of companies that still manufacture baseball"
"Riddell Sports Group Riddell Sports Group is an American company specializing in sports equipment for American football. It was headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois; in 2017 the company relocated to a new facility in adjacent Des Plaines, Illinois. The company was started by John Tate Riddell. Riddell first invented the removable cleat and then went on to invent the first ever plastic suspension helmet in 1939. In 2008, Dan Arment was appointed president of Riddell. Arment previously worked as executive vice-president and general manager of mass-market business for BRG Sports, Riddell's parent company, which is owned by private equity firm Fenway"