Belarus' Ivan Litvinovich wins trampoline, becomes 1st neutral athlete to get gold at Paris Olympics

PARIS -- Ivan Litvinovich of Belaruis claimed the first gold medal by a neutral athlete in Paris by defending his Olympic title in men’s trampoline on Friday night.

Fellow Belarusian Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya won the first medal of any kind by a neutral athlete earlier in the day in the women's competition.

Litvinovich won comfortably in the men's final. His score of 63.090 was over a point ahead of silver medalist Wang Zisai and bronze medalist Yan Langyu, each from China.

Bardzilouskaya and Litvinovich are two of 17 Belarusians competing as a neutral athlete. Russia and Belarus are barred from team sports at the Paris Games because of the war in Ukraine.

While Bardzilouskaya's triumph was somewhat unexpected, Litvinovich, a two-time world champion has been among the best in the world for some time in a sport that asks athletes to perform a series of twisting and flipping jumps in which they reach heights of two stories in the air.

The crowd inside Bercy Arena gave him a fair amount of support during each of his qualifying attempts and again in the final.

Bardzilouskaya's score of 56.060 was just behind Britain gold medalist Bryony Page's tally of 56.480 in the eight-woman final. Sophiane Methot of Canada earned bronze at 55.650.

She playfully — after some encouragement from nearby photographers — bit into her medal and stood smiling as the green-and-white flag with AIN on it and not the red-and-green Belarusian flag was raised during the awards ceremony. She declined to answer any questions about the war afterward.

Bardzilouskaya added she did not pay much attention to any of the colors being waved in the stands among a crowd of over 10,000 fans that at one point did “The Wave” while Bardzilouskaya and the rest of the field completed a series of dangerous and technical moves that require deep concentration.

“I tried to focus on what I’m doing, and I tried to correct my mistakes and therefore it was so-so overall I think,” she said.

Individual athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports were allowed to compete as neutrals if they qualified and then were approved for entry to the Olympics.

Bardzilouskaya did not compete internationally for two years following sanctions by the International Gymnastics Federation after the war with Ukraine began in February 2022. She participated in domestic meets trying to stay sharp but admitted it was difficult at times.

“(There was) a lot of uncertainty; it was hard to predict,” Bardzilouskaya said in Russian.

She was cleared this year to compete in World Cup events in hopes of obtaining enough points to qualify for the Games and was approved as a member of the AIN team in June.

Though she is staying in the Olympic Village, Bardzilouskaya was disappointed she and the rest of the neutral athletes were unable to participate in the parade of athletes that is the centerpiece of the opening ceremony.

Her family watched from back home in Belarus after they were unable to secure visas. While the AIN team is small in size compared to what Belarus could potentially have brought under different circumstances, she said she does not feel lonely or excluded while in the Olympic Village and praised her coach for helping her reach the medal stand.

“He has put a lot into me, into my bounces, my technique,” she said. “It’s enough. I have all I need, so I’m not worried about that.”

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AP Western Europe News Director Angela Charlton contributed to this report.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games