When her gold medal score (56.480) was posted, the audience erupted and Page collapsed to the floor in tears of joy at the Bercy Arena.
“Seeing my name come on top of the scoreboard meant I had the chance of becoming an Olympic champion,” she said of the moments before her victory was confirmed.
When the final standings came through, the emotions that had built up due to years of work and sacrifice surfaced as Page secured Team GB’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in trampoline. She adds the Olympic title to the gold medal that she took at the 2023 World Championships, making her the reigning Olympic and world champion in her discipline.
Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya (AIN) won silver with a score of 56.060 and Canada’s Sophiane Methot clinched bronze with 55.650.
“It means a lot to me. It means everything,” Methot said after the competition. “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.
Before the competition had even begun, Page admitted she had her eyes on a gold medal, saying “It would be absolutely unbelievable to complete the set… let's see what I can do in that moment. But I know that I'll be happy with a routine that is the top end of what I've been training.”
So, Page will walk away from Paris having accomplished both - a gold medal and a routine she can look back on and be proud of for the rest of her life.
Page’s Triumphant Journey
Bryony Page made history as the first British gymnast to win an Olympic trampoline title before promptly confirming her plan to celebrate by running off to join the circus. With a full set of Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals now in her collection, she should prove quite the crowd-pleaser if they can find a large enough big top to house her.
As the only gymnast still standing from the Rio final, and one of only two from Tokyo, Page used her big-stage experience to deliver a world-beating performance when it mattered. The penultimate athlete to compete, she spent the bulk of the final quietly sat in a world of her own, resolutely zoned out to proceedings until producing a series of remarkable twists and somersaults that propelled her to glory.
When the scoreboard flashed up her score of 56.480 to send her top of the standings, Page dropped to her knees and began crying tears of joy in the premature belief that the gold medal was hers. Alas, there was one more competitor to go and a few more nervous minutes to wait.
That final athlete was China’s Hu Yicheng, who started confidently but dramatically fell, forcing her to bail out of completing her routine. Belatedly, Page could celebrate becoming Olympic champion at the third attempt.
“I hadn’t been watching the competition,” explained the 33-year-old. “I just could hear the crowd and the scores. I’d been aware of what the scores were and what I needed to get. I just had to focus on myself and the routine I wanted to get.
“When I was on the top of the scoreboard, I thought I’d won. I forgot there was another person to go. But I knew that was a medal and for me that’s what I was aiming for.”
Immediately beneath Page finished Belarusian athlete Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, whose score of 56.060 earned silver – a first medal of these Paris Games for her exiled nation, albeit the medal table will reflect her officially competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete. Canada’s Sophiane Methot took bronze.
Overcoming Adversity
The scale of Page’s emotion was exacerbated by a long-lasting ankle injury that has plagued her since she won the world title last year. Recent months had proven “a bit of a struggle”, forcing her to change her training methods and meaning she was unable to showcase her most difficult routine in Paris.
The one she did opt for was almost impeccable, with just one minor late error that prompted her to reduce the difficulty of her last trick. Yet, in spite of the gold medal round her neck, the inability to perform to her very best is part of the reason why she has no intention of retiring from the sport just yet.
“I’ve still got more that I want to do,” she said. “I still have the idea of going to LA [2028], so everything from this point will feel like an absolute bonus. I feel like I haven’t given it everything in terms of Olympic journeys. I just love this sport and if I’m happy and healthy, then you might see me around for a few more [Olympic] cycles.”
A New Chapter Awaits
Before then, there is a childhood dream that must be realised. For as long as she can remember, Page has been enchanted by the Cirque du Soleil, the world’s most famous circus. Every year she watches them in London and on tour, harbouring hopes of one day joining them on stage. Now she hopes to make that goal come to fruition.
“I would love to perform,” she said. “It’s been a dream of mine for a long time and I’m not getting any younger, so to get to do it while I’m still feeling strong and healthy would be great.
“I love the idea of performing, wearing costumes, putting on make-up, and being part of a group. I used to do gymnastics with a display gym so I’d love to be part of that again.”
As a biology graduate whose dissertation subject was the sounds that dinosaurs might have made, it is the type of eccentric ambition that might fit neatly into her unusual career path. And what circus wouldn’t want an Olympic champion in their ranks?
A True Inspiration
No-one does bouncing back quite like Great Britain’s first-ever Olympic trampolining champion.
Bryony Page has battled through the yips, multiple serious injuries and a double near-miss on her mission to scale her own personal Everest.
And all those ups and downs were made worthwhile inside the Arena Bercy as she completed her Olympic set in style.
The 33-year-old, who won silver on debut in Rio and bronze in Tokyo, produced a dazzling display and sunk to her knees when it was revealed her routine had taken her to the summit.
Only China’s Hu Yicheng was left to compete – not that Page was aware.
“I thought I’d won,” she said. “I forgot there was another person to go.”
As it turned out, the emotion was not premature. Hu stumbled during her routine and Page’s celebrations could truly begin.
“I hadn’t been watching the competition, I could just hear the crowd and the scores,” she said.
“I was aware of the scores and what I needed to get but I had to focus on myself and the routine I wanted.
“I’ve still got more that I want to do but my Olympic career feels complete.”
Not that Page is calling time on her trampolining ambitions – far from it.
She arrived in Paris as the reigning world champion and still has a desire to take her winning routine from Birmingham on to the biggest stage of all.
“I still have the idea of going to LA but everything from this point will feel like an absolute bonus,” she said.
“I was aiming for gold since the World Championships but I had an injury coming out of them and almost changed my aims back to just getting to the Olympics and making the final.
“We had to make a few tactical changes, I didn’t do the routine I wanted to do and had done at Worlds.
“That’s one of the reasons I might come back for another Olympics, just to get that routine out there.
“If I’m happy and healthy, you might see me for a few more cycles. Brisbane (in 2032) is still in the mix as I love this sport so much.”
Page wore a beaming smile to light up the French capital as she sang along to ‘God Save The King’ and her grin is unlikely to be wiped away any time soon.
Such a scene would have felt unimaginable in her early days, when Page was plagued by ‘lost move syndrome’ and had to rebuild her confidence from the ground up.
That experience gave her more empathy than most when Simone Biles went through a similar ordeal in Tokyo but both have responded in the best possible way by mounting the top step of the Parisian podium.
Biles may have attracted the celebrities but this was a triumph for an unsung Olympic hero from a tight-knit family.
“I named my cat after my grandma, she is very special to me and one of my favourite people,” she said. “So my cat is called ‘grandma’.
“She couldn’t make the trip but I have my mum, dad, boyfriend, brothers, their partners, my little nephew and niece, and friends as well from all different parts of my life. I can’t wait to celebrate with them.”
Page is a natural showstopper and reiterated her desire to move into Cirque du Soleil as she balances her Olympic ambitions with the desire to try something new.
“If they still want me, I’d love to perform,” she said.
“It has been a dream of mine for a long time and I’m not getting any younger, so it would be good to do that while I’m strong and healthy.
“I’ve got more I want to do on trampoline so I won’t be going straight away. I want to show what my glass ceiling is and break through it.”
