AIN athletes Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya win Olympic medals

PARIS (AP) — Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya of Belarus received the primary medals by impartial athletes on the Paris Olympics on Friday, every doing so on trampoline.

The 23-year-old Litvinovich defended the gold he received in Tokyo three years in the past with a reasonably snug victory within the males’s ultimate, hours after Bardzilouskaya earned silver within the ladies’s competitors.

Litvinovich’s final-round rating of 63.090 was over a degree forward of silver medalist Wang Zisai and bronze medalist Yan Langyu, who’re from China.

Bardzilouskaya and Litvinovich are two of 17 Belarusians competing as a impartial athlete. Russia and Belarus are barred from staff sports activities on the Paris Video games due to the struggle in Ukraine.

Litvinovich was embraced by the gang as he accepted his gold medal on the rostrum. At one level, he lifted it off of his teal sweat go well with to point out it to varied corners of a packed Bercy Area.

He stood dutifully, if somewhat bored, whereas the IOC-commissioned anthem for AIN athletes performed. A number of occasions, he peeked round the remainder of the world after the green-and-white flag with AIN was raised slightly than the red-and-green banner of his native nation.

“On the subsequent Video games, I wish to compete with my flag and with my nationwide anthem and I’d prefer to signify my nation in the absolute best method,” Litvinovich mentioned.

Neither Litvinovich nor Bardzilouskaya needed to speak concerning the struggle. Litvinovich referred to as a query referring to the struggle a “provocation” and declined to reply.

Whereas Bardzilouskaya’s triumph was considerably sudden, Litvinovich, is a two-time world champion and has been among the many greatest on this planet.

Three years after successful in a near-silent area in Tokyo as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic closed the Video games to spectators, Litvinovich acknowledged he was somewhat nervous in a decidedly completely different — to not point out louder — setting, notably following France’s Pierre Gouzou.

Finally it didn’t matter. He was simply the perfect within the finals, maintaining his jumps close to the middle of the trampoline whereas placing collectively an intricate collection of flips and twists that despatched him hovering two tales within the air.

Bardzilouskaya’s rating of 56.060 was simply behind Britain gold medalist Bryony Web page’s tally of 56.480 within the eight-woman ultimate. Sophiane Methot of Canada earned bronze at 55.650.

The 19-year-old Bardzilouskaya, like Litvinovich, didn’t pay a lot consideration to any of the colours being waved within the stands amongst a crowd of over 10,000 followers that at one level did “The Wave” whereas she and others competed.

“I attempted to concentrate on what I’m doing, and I attempted to appropriate my errors and due to this fact it was so-so total I believe,” Bardzilouskaya mentioned.

Particular person athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports had been allowed to compete as neutrals in the event that they certified after which had been accepted for entry to the Olympics.

Bardzilouskaya didn’t compete internationally for 2 years following sanctions by the Worldwide Gymnastics Federation after the struggle with Ukraine started in February 2022. She participated in home meets making an attempt to remain sharp however admitted it was tough at occasions.

“(There was) a number of uncertainty; it was laborious to foretell,” Bardzilouskaya mentioned in Russian.

She was cleared this 12 months to compete in World Cup occasions in hopes of acquiring sufficient factors to qualify for the Video games and was accepted as a member of the AIN staff in June.

Although she is staying within the Olympic Village, Bardzilouskaya was upset she and the remainder of the impartial athletes had been unable to take part within the parade of athletes that’s the centerpiece of the opening ceremony.

Her household watched from again house in Belarus after they had been unable to safe visas. Whereas the AIN staff is small in measurement in comparison with what Belarus may doubtlessly have introduced underneath completely different circumstances, she mentioned she doesn’t really feel lonely or excluded whereas within the Olympic Village and praised her coach for serving to her attain the medal stand.

“He has put so much into me, into my bounces, my method,” she mentioned. “It’s sufficient. I’ve all I want, so I’m not nervous about that.”

___

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

___

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