PARIS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua): Ivan Litvinovich, an individual neutral athlete, defended his title in men's trampoline on Friday to become the only male athlete to win two Olympic trampoline gold medals.
He was also the first individual neutral athlete to win a gold in Paris. His compatriot Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya took a silver in women's event earlier.
Litvinovich, from Belarus, delivered a higher-difficulty ten-element routine to edged Wang Zisai of China, scoring 63.090 points.
"I was very nervous," said Litvinovich. "I chatted with my coach, trying to stay focused on the competition, because I'm competing with the world's best trampolinists."
Wang had deductions in horizontal displacement, meaning he didn't stay in the middle very well, but otherwise performed consistently to finish at 61.890, 0.940 ahead teammate Yan Langyu, who got the bronze.
Two-time world champion Yan had trouble getting started before recovering to complete his exercise in style. Trampolinists have to bounce several times to get enough height going into somersaults or twists.
"I didn't have a great final," said Yan. "I thought medal was out of the questions. A bronze is great."
Dylan Schimidt of New Zealand, the Tokyo bronze medalist, fell outside the trampoline and finished eighth.
