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Bryony Page wants to realise her dream of heading off to join the circus after completing her set of Olympic trampolining medals with gold in Paris.
The 33-year-old became the first British medallist in the discipline when she won a surprise silver medal in Rio eight years ago before taking bronze in Tokyo.
She went into this competition as the reigning world champion and gold medal favourite, and she lived up to that billing in spectacular style.
Page did not rule out competing again in Los Angeles in four years’ time but first she wants to pursue an opportunity to join Cirque du Soleil as an acrobat and tour with them.
“If they still want me, 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 that while I’m still feeling strong and healthy would be great.
“I’ve still got more that I want to do on trampoline straightaway. I’ve got more skills I want to do, to show what my glass ceiling is. I want to break through it.
“My Olympic career feels complete but I still have the idea of going to LA, so everything from this point will feel like an absolute bonus.”
Page, who had to overcome Lost Move Syndrome early in her career, has been to Cirque du Soleil shows as a fan, saying: “I try to go to the Royal Albert Hall to watch them. I’ve got loads of friends who have gone to Las Vegas, and I watch them when they are touring.
“I loved the idea of performing, wearing costumes, putting on make-up, being part of a group. And I used to do gymnastics with a display gym so I’d love to be part of that again.
“If they can get me a temporary contract and I love it then I might stick around, but if I feel like I haven’t given it everything in terms of Olympic journeys then I will come back.
“Hopefully they’ll still want me after LA and I’m still in the mix. I just love this sport and, if I’m happy and healthy, then you might see me around for a few more cycles.”
Page was the penultimate gymnast to compete in the final at Bercy Arena and she cried and leapt with joy after her score of 56.480 was confirmed.
The British star, who also won the world title in 2021, qualified for the final with the fifth highest score but those competing ahead of her largely failed to surpass their qualifying marks.
Page, meanwhile, increased her score by close to a full point from 55.620 and then saw the final competitor, China’s Hu Yicheng, fall during her routine.
Page’s preparations were disrupted by an ankle injury aggravated during the World Championships, while she revealed she went into the competition concerned by her physical condition.
“Yesterday I had a twinge in my neck, my ankles were sore, so I just had started to doubt myself,” she said. “So I think the shock has come from the fact that I actually managed to do it.”
A minor mistake caused Page to change the end of her routine and, sat waiting for the score, she was unsure if she had done enough.
“I hadn’t been watching the competition, I just could hear the crowd and the scores,” she said.
“I didn’t know if they were marking harshly, easily, so I was like, ‘Please, please, please let me be in the medals’. I didn’t know if I was even going to make third.
“So, 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.”
Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya from Belarus became the first neutral athlete to win a medal at the Games, taking silver, while Canada’s Sophiane Methot claimed bronze.
Zak Perzamanos narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s event, finishing in fourth, the best result by a British man in Olympic history.
