With the start of the 2012 Olympics fast approaching, it’s “game on” at this year’s Canadian gymnastics championships as the country’s best athletes set their sights on earning a trip to the Games next summer in London.

Highlighting this year’s competition are Olympic trampoline medal winners Karen Cockburn and Jason Burnett and 2010 world bronze medallist Rosannagh MacLennan, all of Toronto, defending men’s all around gymnastics champion Nathan Gafuik of Calgary,  Brandon O’Neill of Edmonton, one of the world’s best gymnasts in the floor exercise, and a number of rising stars, including Madeline Gardiner of Cambridge, Ont., and Brittany Rogers of Coquitlam, B.C. in women’s gymnastics, and Jayd Lukenchuk of Saskatoon and Jason Scott of Richmond, B.C. on the men’s side. National titles are also up for grabs in various age groups with more than 900 athletes and support staff expected for the event in Charlottetown which runs May 23-28. In women’s trampoline MacLennan is the clear favourite this year, with defending champion Cockburn only competing in qualifications, while Burnett will be going for his sixth straight Canadian title in the men’s event. Cockburn, who has won has won medals at three consecutive Olympic Games,  has recently decided to go for a Canadian record fourth trip to the podium at the next Games in London.

In men’s gymnastics, Gafuik can expect stiff competition for the all around title from Lukenchuk, coming off a strong performance earlier this month in China, Jackson Payne of Edmonton and Casey Sandy of Brampton, Ont., the former NCAA star with Penn State who returned to the national team two years ago aiming for a spot on the 2012 Olympic team. In women’s gymnastics, Madeline Gardiner is the leading contender for the all around senior title with defending champion Kristina Vaculik not competing this year. Vaculik who won the all around and three of four event titles at the 2010 championships, is finishing up her first year at Stanford University where she competed on the women’s gymnastics team.

Other medal contenders include Dominique Pegg of Sarnia, Ont., Jessica Savona and Sabrina Gill, both of Oakville, Ont.,  and in the junior event, Victoria Moors of Cambridge, Ont. Eleven-year-old novice competitor Shallon Olsen of Vancouver will also be in the spotlight after dazzling judges and spectators alike at the 2010 Canadian championships. Rounding out the 2011 championships are the crowd-pleasing tumbling and double mini trampoline events.

Calgary’s Alex Siefert leads the way in men’s tumbling while perennial women’s champion Emily Smith of Burlington, Ont, will be looking to regain her title after coming out of retirement last year. In double mini, world champion Corissa Boychuk of Airdrie, Alta., is the favourite in the women’s event while the gold medal contenders in the men’s event include defending national champion Keegan Soehn of Red Deer, Alta., and Luke Friesen of Kamloops, B.C., a surprise winner in March at Elite Canada.