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london 2012

Paula Findlay of Canada stops with team doctor Steve Keeler during the run portion of Triathlon competition at the 2012 Olympic Games in London on Saturday, August 4, 2012. Findlay resumed the race after stopping.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

A golden performance on the trampoline and heartbreak in the triathlon dominated the Twitter feeds of Canadian Olympians on Saturday.

Rosannagh MacLennan won Canada's first gold of the London Games, taking top spot in the women's trampoline and sending athletes into a social media frenzy.

MacLennan, who is from King City, Ont., finished with 57.305 points, a vast improvement on her seventh-place showing four years ago in Beijing.

"Wow! Huge Congrats to (at)RosieMacLennan!! Olympic Champion!! #Trampoline," tweeted kayaker Adam van Koeverden, himself a three-time Olympic medallist.

Canadian swimmer Julia Wilkinson also added her congratulations.

"WAY TO GO (at)RosieMacLennan! Gold medal!! Thanks for getting Canada on the board :)," she wrote.

Former Olympic swimmer Annamay Pierse also took notice of MacLennan's accomplishment.

"GOLD!!!!!!!!! (at)RosieMacLennan is our first golden girl!!!" tweeted Pierse. "So proud of my friend!! She is truly amazing!!"

Added Canadian gymnast Brittany Rogers: "Oh my gosh! Canada's first gold trampoline medal!! Congrats Rosie you are amazing!"

Winter Olympians also took notice, with skier Jennifer Heil and hockey player Haley Wickenheiser tweeting about MacLennan.

"Oh Canada! Congrats to Rosie Maclennan for our a gold medal performance!," tweeted Heil. "Great to be at Cdn Oly House to celebrate with fellow Canadians!"

Added Wickeheiser upon hearing the national anthem played for the first time in London: "OH CANADA!!! So sweet to hear that song finally!!!(at)rosiemaclennan stood in my living room singing as a proud cdn! #performanceunderpressure."

Despite the celebrations surrounding MacLennan's gold, the Twitterverse was more sombre when addressing Canadian triathlete Paula Findlay.

The 23-year-old from Edmonton finished 52nd in a gutsy performance but couldn't hide her feelings, repeating "I'm sorry" over and over after crossing the finish line.

Despite being more than 12 minutes behind the winner, Findlay refused to drop out, saying she felt she owed it to her supporters.

"I'm really sorry to everybody to Canada," said Findlay, who suffered a hip injury earlier this year, but deemed herself 100 per cent fit for the race. "I had big hopes for myself and a lot of people had big hopes in me."

She also expressed her feelings on Twitter soon after, adding: "Sadder than I've ever been. Thanks for the love. Life goes on."

Fellow Canadian triathlete Simon Whitfield tweeted throughout the race and had some encouraging words for his teammate.

"Just saw (at)PaulaFindlay what a year she's been through. Keep ur head up champ, what a journey just 2 make start line. Lessons #4rio (& life)," tweeted the two-time Olympic medallist.

Added Pierse: "(at)PaulaFindlay an unbelievable champion in my eyes. Not what she wanted at all but one of my heroes all the same!! #proudCanadian."

Meanwhile, Victoria swimmer Ryan Cochrane won silver in the men's 1,500-metre race and it didn't take long for the congratulations to pour in.

"So stoked for (at)CochraneRyan! Silver in the 1500m freestyle!! Congrats!," tweeted van Koeverden.

Added Whitfield: "Huge race (at)cochraneryan huge. 14:39!! Astounding. Crazy hard worker."

And on the cycling track, Edmonton's Tara Whitten, Victoria's Gillian Carleton and Jasmin Glaesser of Coquitlam, B.C., defeated Australia in the bronze-medal race.

"Congrats to (at)tara—whitten (at)Gilliancarleton and (at)JasminGlaesser on your bronze! (at)CDNOlympicTeam," tweeted two-time Canadian Olympic gold medal winning speedskater Catriona Le May Doan.

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