Tramp Stamped

George Nissen, who helped make rhythmic gymnastics look like a reasonable Olympic sport while providing grist for America’s Funniest Home Videos and the Internet, has died of pneumonia at the age of 96. Nissen was a teenage gymnast watching unsuccessful trapeze artists bounce off a safety net, inspiring him to invent the trampoline, which 60 years later made its Olympic debut as a medal event at the 2000 Sydney games.