After winning silver in the last three Olympic Games and bronze in Beijing 2008, the People’s Republic of China are the undisputed Olympic Champions in the team event after three mind-blowing performances in Paris.
After the technical and free team routines, the gold was virtually locked for the Chinese team, who came in with a lead of nearly 70 points. All they had to do was nail their “Light of Life” acrobatic routine – although they could still have probably afforded a few basemarks – to claim the country’s first-ever Olympic gold in artistic swimming.
The squad did just that, scoring 283.6934 in this event to earn a total score of 996.1389 after three to become Olympic Champions in Paris.
“I feel like this gold medal is not only a personal achievement, or a personal dream of mine coming true,” team captain Feng Yu said. “It is also a dream for the entire artistic swimming team of China, and for our country. Our team, we are a generation with a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, but we were fully prepared before coming to Paris. We really enjoyed these Olympic Games. This gold is a reward for the past three years. We are extremely happy we won today.”
The team of the United States secured the silver medal with a total score of 914.3421. The Americans had jumped from fourth in technical team to second overall following a great swim in the free team routine, and had virtually secured a medal coming into today’s acrobatic team event, their strongest. They were once again unbelievable in their outstanding “Sorceresses” routine, and claimed the US’ first Olympic medal since 2004, and first-ever silver medal.
“I still can’t even realize that we’re here, at the Olympics,” Megumi Field said. “I’ve processed it a bit, but now, I have this medal around my neck… What is happening?!”
What head coach Andrea Fuentes, as well as her coaching staff and the athletes themselves, have accomplished in the span of one Olympic cycle is nothing short of extraordinary. The Americans had missed out on qualifying to the Tokyo Games by a few tenths, and are now vice-Olympic Champions only three years later.
“It’s this moment that you dream about, first just going to the Olympics since you’re young,” Jaime Czarkowski continued. “And you finally achieve that, and then you win a silver medal. All of this feels so surreal, and to do it with this team is just… I’m so grateful.”
After the free team event, the battle for bronze seemed quite open, still, with three nations still realistically in the running. Spain, Japan and France sat in third, fourth and fifth respectively, and were only separated by about 15 points.
Ultimately, it was team Spain that came out victorious, clinching the bronze and its first Olympic medal since 2012 with a total score of 900.7319. The Spanish knew they couldn’t afford any mistakes tonight if they hoped to stay in this medal position, but they handled the pressure beautifully in their “One Shot, One Opportunity” routine, which they had last showcased at the Doha World Championships.
“I feel really excited,” said team captain Meritxell Mas Pujadas. “It’s been a lot of work. We were really nervous before tonight, we knew that we had to fight a lot until the end, but I trusted my team and it was all worth it. It’s a lot of emotions right now… I’m really, really, really happy. I was also nervous because it was my first time being a flier for the acrobatics. It was crazy, I had never done it, but I accepted the challenge. It was a goal for me to achieve, so I’m really happy about that too.”
“I don’t realize what’s happening yet,” Lilou Lluis Valette said. “I can’t even find the words, I can’t stop crying. This morning, we woke up determined, and we’ve been so focused since. All day has just been perfect… Today is really a perfect day.”
Despite scoring higher than Spain in tonight’s acrobatic event, France came just a bit short in the overall rankings, finishing fourth with a total of 886.6487. This however equals the country’s previous best finish from the Sydney Olympics, which was also the last time the team had qualified to the Games.
The French went all-in tonight, declaring the highest degree of difficulty of the event (27.95) and performing two brand-new acrobatic moves. To the delight of the home crowd, they showcased another new choreography tonight to the theme of French Cancan, which also included a lovely surprise for the audience on the deckwork.
The French actually were the third best acrobatic team tonight, with a score of 268.8001. Overall, this team should be incredibly proud of their team performance in Paris, which was filled with novelty, innovation, and dare.
This was also officially the last swim for twins Charlotte and Laura Tremble, who now get to retire as two-time Olympians.
“We stuck together and fought to the bitter end,” Charlotte said. “I’m very proud of us. I hope we managed to leave a lasting impression. We stayed in our own bubble throughout the competition, we rose to the challenge, we innovated, and I hope the public felt that. It was [Laura and I’s] last competition, our last dance. It’s just emotional because we’ve been competing at the highest level for 10 years. We’ve been through a lot. To finish in Paris in front of this audience and our loved ones, what more could you ask for?”
Team Japan landed in fifth position in the total ranking with a score of 880.6841. The Japanese didn’t receive any basemarks today, but had quite low execution on a few acrobatics, which was enough to drop them and their “Alligators” routine down to seventh in this event. At the end of the day, the Japanese simply couldn’t contend for a medal and stay ahead of France, which had surged to fourth in the meantime.
With a strong swim to its “Hip Hop” acrobatic routine, Canada finished sixth overall with 859.2229, and also achieved three clean performances without any basemarks. Mexico landed in seventh place in the total rankings 853.7932 thanks to another excellent and powerful routine today, set to the theme of “Matlalcueye,” the Mexican goddess of waters and navigation. Mexico ultimately secured two top five finishes in 2 of the 3 Olympic events.
The team of Italy finished eighth overall, and realistically would have needed a lot of help from other nations to be back in the running for a medal. They did however give it their all tonight, performing their “Venice Carnival” routine cleanly to end their Olympic Games in the team event with a total score of 845.9670.
Unfortunately, Australia was the sole team to receive a basemark tonight, but the nation still secured a ninth-place finish overall with a total of 728.4358. Egypt rounds out the top 10 with a total score of 705.9814.
Artistic swimming will start up again on Friday, August 9, with the duet competition, which will see 18 nations swim in the technical and free duet routines.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Cover photo: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia
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