PARIS (AP) — Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya of Belarus won the first medal by a neutral athlete at the Paris Olympics, taking silver in women’s trampoline on Friday behind Britain’s Bryony Page.
Bardzilouskaya’s score of 56.060 was just behind Page’s tally of 56.480 in the eight-woman final. Sophiane Methot of Canada earned bronze at 55.650.
Bardzilouskaya is one 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.
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.
The 19-year-old 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 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.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
