The medal is the first for a Russian or Belarusian athlete, who are not competing in these Games under their own flag, but as so-called neutrals, as part of measures taken by Paris as a result of Russia's role in the war in Ukraine.

This means that they do not participate in the opening ceremony, that the anthem is not played because the medals are individual medals and do not count towards their nations' medal tally, and they have previously had to distance themselves from Russia or Belarus and deny any connection with the army. Only 15 Russians and 17 Belarusians accepted the invitation to compete under the neutral flag.

Bardzilouskaya, 19, was beaten in the women's springboard final by Britain's Bryony Page, while Canada's Sophiane Methot took bronze. And Anzhela Bladtcheva, a Russian springboarder also competing as a neutral, was fifth.

Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya  won silver with a score of 56.060 and Canada’s Sophiane Methot clinched bronze with a 55.650.

Two-time Olympic medallist Bryony Page has completed her Olympic medal collection, taking gold in the women’s trampoline final  , besting her silver and bronze from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

When her gold medal score (56.480) was posted, the audience erupted and Great Britain’s veteran collapsed to the floor in tears of joy, becoming the only female Trampoline gymnast in history to amass a full set of Olympic medals in the process. Her winning total was 56.480 points.

“I had quite a difficult build-up, anticipating this competition for a long time,” commented Page, who plans to continue competing after Paris. “I managed to get through prelims (qualifications), so I was really happy with that. And then, in the finals, I was able to upgrade from what I did in the last Olympics."

Page took up the sport at age nine at The Wingate Centre in Wrenbury, England. Her parents had noticed how much she was enjoying the trampoline in the garden at their home in Wrenbury, near Nantwich in Cheshire. They put her into lots of different sports when she was younger including tennis, dance, ballet and football, but her favourite was gymnastics for which she had a natural ability.

Bronze felt for 25-year-old Methot. Methot’s parents moved closer to a top Canadian club years ago to allow their daughter to pursue her Olympic dreams, and Friday she earned Canada’s sixth Olympic medal in women’s Trampoline, the first since Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN) in 2016.

Zhu Xueying (CHN), who coasted through the early rounds to qualify for the final in first place, made a small mistake that impacted her difficulty in the final. Not even the highest execution score of the day could keep the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion among the top three, and she ended 0.14 off the podium.

MEN

In the men's final in the afternoon, the gold medal went to the defending champion, Ivan Litvinovich, a Belarusian competing in the neutrals - the category that includes Russians and Belarusians without a flag - who flew to 63.090.

He was followed by China's Wang Zisai, who did not always manage to be in the middle, but did not fail to score 61.890; and World No. 1 - ahead of even the reigning Olympic champion - China's Yan Langyu, who scored 60.950.

Then there was Great Britain's Zach Perzamanos, with 59.840, Gabriel Alburquerque, from Portugal, reached 59.740 and France's Pierre Gouzou, much applauded by the audience, stood out with a great finish that brought him 58.940.

Angel Hernandez, Colombian and triple Pan American champion, had 53.150 after a problem in the final part of the routines.

New Zealand's Dylan Smith, seventh in Rio and third in Tokyo, came off the springboard, finishing with just 19.500.