Athlete claims second Olympic medal for Belarusian national team, winning gold in trampolining
The athlete from Vitebsk, aged 20, has perfectly fulfilled his Olympic debut. In the qualification round, Vladislav came second and confidently entered the top eight finalists. Jumping last but one, the Belarusian already knew the results of almost all his major rivals and showed his best qualities. Having received 61,745 points from the judges, Goncharov took the lead, threatened only by Chinese Gao Lei. However, the latter failed to exceed the result of the Belarusian athlete, earning 60,175 points, and finished third. Silver went China’s Dong Dong, who claimed 60,535 points.
There’s reason for joy
“The Chinese athletes made errors in the finals. Everything went well for my performance; however, if we compare my programme with that of 2014, I simplified my exercises. It was a tactical ploy in order to outstrip everyone,” noted the Olympic champion, speaking after his successful performance.
Mr. Goncharov also said that, despite being the only representative of Belarus in the finals, he didn’t have any difficulties. “The athletes who performed in the finals know each other well, so I was in an usual atmosphere,” added the Belarusian athlete.
Vladislav Goncharov’s gold medal is the first in the history of trampolining for Belarus.
By Alexander Pimenov