Roome Mishra
Paris Olympics 2024: Bryony Page wins Great Britain’s first Trampoline Olympic Gold and finishes her own set of Olympic medals in all colours. The 33-year-old gymnast, who earned silver at Rio 2016 for Great Britain’s first Olympic trampoline medal, clinched bronze at Tokyo 2020. At the Paris Olympics, she achieved the ultimate triumph by scoring 56.480 points, securing the gold medal and capping an impressive Olympic career.
Two-time individual world champion Page stared in disbelief at the Bercy Arena with her head in her hands when her score surpassed that of Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, who won silver, and Canada’s Sophiane Methot, who took bronze.
“It sounds amazing” says BP on her win
Bryony admitted that she had momentarily forgotten there was still one more gymnast to compete and had prematurely celebrated her gold when she saw herself at the top of the scoreboard. However, it soon became time for genuine celebration.
“It sounds amazing,” Page said, when asked what it was like to now have the full set of medals. “I had quite a difficult build-up, anticipating this competition for a long time.” She added.
Page was dealing with an ankle injury and mentioned experiencing a twinge in her neck during podium training on Thursday.
The expression of shock on Page’s face resembled the one she had at Rio 2016 when she won her first Olympic medal. Back then, it was due to achieving a British first, while this time, it was because she had forgotten there was another gymnast left to compete and prematurely believed she had won gold.
“When I saw the score come up, I forgot I wasn’t the last person,” she laughed. “So in that moment I knew I had won an Olympic medal and at the time I thought it was gold. I was reacting to a really happy score and a really happy routine – at least if I didn’t become Olympic champion, I knew what it was going to feel like!” Bryony said.
Bardzilouskaya wins first medal for the AIN team
Russia and Belarus entered the Paris Olympics 2024 under team AIN. The Individual Neutral Athletes have a teal coloured flag, and have a new team name because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bardzilouskaya, 19, is among 17 Belarusian athletes competing as Authorized Neutral Athletes (AINs) in Paris, as Belarus is banned from the Games due to its support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These athletes are competing without their country’s flags or anthems and had to meet strict eligibility requirements set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC will not include AINs’ medals in the official medal tables, so Bardzilouskaya’s only official record of her achievement will be the silver medal she wears.
When asked about training over the past couple of years amidst uncertainty about her participation, she said, “I had very mixed feelings because it was unclear what chances I would have to compete at the Games.” Of the 24 Belarusians invited to the Games, only 17, and of the 36 Russian athletes invited, only 15, have agreed to compete in Paris.
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