Belarus trampoline gymnasts earn first medals by neutral athletes at the Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya of Belarus won the first medals by neutral athletes at the Paris Olympics on Friday, each doing so on trampoline.

The 23-year-old Litvinovich defended the gold he won in Tokyo three years ago with a fairly comfortable victory in the men’s final, hours after Bardzilouskaya earned silver in the women’s competition.

Litvinovich’s final-round score of 63.090 was over a point ahead of silver medalist Wang Zisai and bronze medalist Yan Langyu, who are 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.

Litvinovich was embraced by the crowd as he accepted his gold medal on the podium. At one point, he lifted it off of his teal sweat suit to show it to various corners of a packed Bercy Arena.

He stood dutifully, if a little bored, while the IOC-commissioned anthem for AIN athletes played. Several times, he peeked around the rest of the arena after the green-and-white flag with AIN was raised rather than the red-and-green banner of his native country.

“At the next Games, I would like to compete with my flag and with my national anthem and I’d like to represent my country in the best possible way,” Litvinovich said.

Neither Litvinovich nor Bardzilouskaya wanted to talk about the war. Litvinovich called a question relating to the war a “provocation” and declined to answer.

While Bardzilouskaya’s triumph was somewhat unexpected, Litvinovich, is a two-time world champion and has been among the best in the world.

Three years after winning in a near-silent arena in Tokyo because the COVID-19 pandemic closed the Games to spectators, Litvinovich acknowledged he was a little nervous in a decidedly different — not to mention louder — setting, particularly following France’s Pierre Gouzou.

Ultimately it didn’t matter. He was easily the best in the finals, keeping his jumps near the center of the trampoline while putting together an intricate series of flips and twists that sent him soaring two stories in the air.

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.

The 19-year-old Bardzilouskaya, like Litvinovich, 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 she and others competed.

“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,” Bardzilouskaya 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