PARIS – Ivan Litvinovich made historical past inside Bercy Area on Friday night time, changing into the primary man to win Olympic gold in males’s trampoline twice.
“It’s a brand new standing, however on the similar time, I really feel a bit nervous about my profession (laughs),” Litvinovich mentioned of the achievement. “I’ll proceed to work much more and to have the ability to take part within the subsequent Olympic Video games, and to be in good condition, good kind and to be aggressive there.”
The 23-year-old certified first to the ultimate with a 63.420 and backed that up with a 63.090 to greatest silver medalist Wang Zisai (61.890) and bronze medalist Yan Langyu (60.950) each of China.
The trio have confronted off a number of occasions this 12 months, however Litvinovich’s issue, time of flight, and horizontal displacement had been all superior to the Chinese language efforts. Even for the untrained eye, it was clear how Litvinovich was the superior trampolinist – he jumped greater than anybody else, maintained that amplitude, and stayed nearly utterly within the small sq. field in the course of the equipment.
“I used to be fairly anxious and nervous,” he mentioned. “My coach helped me rather a lot. I used to be additionally listening to music earlier than my routines. I felt I used to be totally ready to point out my greatest immediately.”
Following his triumph in Tokyo three years in the past, it was unclear if Litvinovich would even get the possibility to defend his title after Russian and Belarusian athletes had been banned from worldwide competitors by the Worldwide Gymnastics Federation (FIG) quickly after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, however a path was paved when the FIG allowed athletes assembly sure necessities to return to competitors on January 1 of this 12 months.
When the IOC signed off on people from the 2 nations being allowed to qualify as Particular person Impartial Athletes (AIN), Litvinovich was simply capable of earn his spot in Paris by the trampoline World Cup sequence. Now, he’s the primary AIN to win Olympic gold in Paris after fellow Belarusian Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya received silver in ladies’s trampoline – the primary AIN medal of any shade in Paris – only a few hours earlier.
Silver medalist Zisai mentioned he was a bit shocked by the consequence since he got here to Paris simply targeted on competing at his first Olympic Video games.
“In fact, I used to be nervous within the first routine [in qualifying],” Wang mentioned. “After that, I used to be capable of regulate myself and progressively acquired within the zone. Truly, I used to be fairly shocked by the ultimate consequence that I acquired: the silver medal. I wasn’t capable of management my facial expressions, as a result of I used to be simply so blissful in regards to the consequence.”
Yan was a bit flustered to begin his closing routine, and it confirmed within the execution. Nonetheless, it was sufficient for the bronze by greater than some extent.
“I did put a whole lot of strain on myself, and consequently, I wasn’t capable of carry out to my greatest immediately,” Yan mentioned. “However I feel that’s utterly regular, as a result of all of us make errors.”
Nice Britain’s Zak Perzamanos was fourth, and Gabriel Albuquerque of Portugal was fifth. France’s Pierre Gouzou was sixth after a efficiency that had the group stomping its toes and shaking the sector. Rounding out the highest eight had been Angel Hernandez of Colombia and Tokyo bronze medalist Dylan Schmidt of New Zealand, who crashed out within the closing.
The USA’ Aliaksei Shostak was tenth – one of the best end ever for a U.S. man in Olympic trampoline.
“I loved each single day I used to be right here,” Shostak mentioned. “I simply took all of it in and had a extremely nice time. Even immediately, like I mentioned, I’m a bit dissatisfied, however I’m not devastated. All the things has been an excellent expertise.”
