By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
PARIS (Reuters) -Britain’s Bryony Page claimed gold in the women’s trampoline at the Paris Games on Friday in an nerve-wracking final at the Bercy Arena on her third Olympic medal-winning appearance.
Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, a Belarusian competing as an individual neutral athlete, clinched silver, while Canada’s Sophiane Methot took bronze.
The 33-year-old Page, who was fifth in qualifying, had long been on a quest for gold, having won the silver at the 2016 Rio Games and bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
Page, the seventh of eight competitors to jump in the final, said she was extremely nervous when awaiting her score, which amounted to 56.480 points.
“I was hoping it was good enough for a medal,” she said.
“I was just hoping for a medal, and then to see my name come on top of the scoreboard just meant that I had the chance to become an Olympic champion.”
Page was so thrilled to see herself in first place that she thought she had already won gold.
“I forgot there was another competitor to come,” she said.
Bardzilouskaya, second in the qualifications, is one of the few Belarusian or Russian athletes cleared to compete at the Paris Games.
Teams from Russia and Belarus have been banned from taking part in the Games over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus having been used as a staging ground.
Only certain individuals have been authorised by the IOC to compete after undergoing a screening process designed to root out anyone who has publicly supported the war or military.
The Belarusian Olympic Committee, which is not represented in Paris, expressed great joy at Bardzilouskaya’s silver.
“This is your first Olympic medal and Belarusians’ first medal in Paris,” its president said in a statement carried by the committee. “This is why it’s double valuable and special.”
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Ken Ferris)
