Sophiane Méthot earns Olympic trampoline bronze for Canada on eve of 26th birthday

Canadian gymnast Sophiane Méthot will be starting her 26th birthday celebration a little early in Paris while sporting an Olympic bronze medal around her neck.

Confidence gained from a bronze performance last month at a World Cup in Portugal propelled Méthot to the podium at Bercy Arena on Friday after she scored 55.650 points in the final of her Olympic debut. 

It represents Canada's eighth all-time trampoline medal at the Summer Games.

"Sophiane Méthot delivered the routine of her dreams in the Olympic final. That was fantastic … a total home run for [her] coming into this final ranked in eighth position," said retired gymnast Kyle Shewfelt, who won 2004 gold on floor exercise for Canada's first-ever Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics."There was a plan [with Méthot and her coach]: get into the final and then give it your everything.

"Coming into this Olympics, she said she was in such a great mental space coming off [the World Cup bronze]. Look at that execution," added Shewfelt, a CBC Sports analyst. "Those knees are glued together. She was so centred during this routine."

Méthot, who hails from Varennes, Que. and turns 26 on Saturday, was in bronze position before the final gymnast in the eight-woman final, Yicheng Hu of China, who went on to fall and that meant her routine was terminated.

WATCH | Methot collects Canada's 8th all-time Olympic trampoline medal:

Reigning world champion Bryony Page of Great Britain won gold (56.480) and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya of Belarus captured silver (56.060), the first medal by a neutral athlete at the Paris Olympics.

"Most of the routine was very well done," Shewfelt said of Page. "Bryony is a class act and sets a golden standard on trampoline."

Zhu Xueying, who won 2021