Canada's Methot wins bronze in women's trampoline

PARIS — Canada's Sophiane Méthot won the bronze medal in women's trampoline gymnastics at the Paris Games on Friday as she made her Olympic debut.

The gymnast from Varennes, Que., earned a score of 55.650 in the single-exercise final on Friday, behind Britain's Briony Page (56.480) and the Belarusian gymnast Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya (56.060), who is competing as a neutral athlete.

Page took home the bronze at the Tokyo Games three years ago. As for Bardzilouskaya, Friday's silver medal marked the first time a neutral athlete has landed on the podium in Paris.

"It was really intense," Méthot said on taking the bronze. "I did everything I could out there, and I'm just really proud of myself for doing a great routine."

Winning the medal "means everything," she added.

"For the Tokyo Olympics, I wasn't on the team because I was injured. I've had a lot of mental blocks (in my career). Just to be here, get through those things, and go out there, do the performance of a lifetime and get bronze is amazing."

Méthot, who will turn 26 on Saturday, went through a rollercoaster of emotions after just making the cut to compete in the final Friday morning.

She was eighth in the qualifying round with a score of 54.640 as the last athlete who could potentially knock her out of the running, Azerbaijan's Seljan Mahsudova, performed her second and last exercise.

In the qualifying round, gymnasts choose whether they want to do a second exercise, and the best score is used to determine the ranking. The top eight, including any tied for the last spot, move on to the final.

Mahsudova's routine earned her a score of 53.750, confirming Méthot's participation in the final.

A similarly suspenseful scenario played out in the final round, in which gymnasts perform a single exercise of 10 elements.

Méthot, who is ranked 11th in the world, had been in second place until Page took the lead, bumping Bardzilouskaya down one spot in the ranking.

The Canadian was pushed down into third with only one athlete left to perform — China's Hu Yicheng, who was third in the qualifying round but fell during her performance in the final, cutting her routine short and earning a score of 11.790.

After missing the podium three years ago in Tokyo, Canada has now won a medal in trampoline at six of seven Games since the sport's Olympic debut in 2000.

The discipline has been boosted from the success of Rosie MacLennan, who became the first trampolinist to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals, one in London in 2012 and the other in Rio in 2016. MacLennan, now retired, competed in her last Games in Tokyo, where she came in fourth.

Méthot, a two-time Pan American Champion in women’s individual trampoline, took Canada's only spot in trampoline gymnastics for Paris by placing fifth in the women’s individual event at the 2023 FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Championships in Birmingham, England.

-with files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Aug. 2, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version mistakenly said China's Hu Yicheng had dominated in the qualifying round.