The ultimate day of artistic swimming at the Paris Olympic Games was nothing short of exciting and surprising.
Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi claimed their second gold of these Olympics, and a first-time Olympic duet gold for the People’s Republic of China with a total score of 566.4783. The pairs of Great Britain and the Netherlands earned the silver and the bronze medals, respectively, with only 0.1404 separating them in the end.
Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi had a slight lead of less than 10 points after the technical duet, but headed into the free duet event with only the 10th highest Degree of Difficulty (DD). The twins swam last, surely knowing they couldn’t afford any mistakes. Thankfully, they had a solid swim in their “Cheetah” routine, which notably earned them the highest artistic impression score. They also received a 10.0 from one of the judges on their second opening pair acrobatic.
The Wang sisters only ranked fourth in the free duet only, but that, coupled with their strong technical routine, was still enough for this historic Olympic duet gold.
“We were so focused on our performance, we didn’t realize we’d won gold yet when the first score of the free routine came up,” Qianyi said. “When we realized we’d won, we were extremely shocked. It was a big surprise for us to understand we were first.”
“We were under a lot of pressure these last few days,” Liuyi said. “So we’re happy with ourselves because we managed that pressure well and turned it into a strength. After winning two gold medals in artistic swimming, people, and especially the younger generations in our country, are going to enter a new era of artistic swimming.”
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe of Great Britain were lying in fourth place after the technical routine, and only 0.6784 points away from the bronze. However, the pair had an unbelievable performance in the free duet and actually recorded the highest score of the event, 294.5085, with their “Rising Phoenix” routine.
The Brits leap-frogged the duets of Austria and the Netherlands in the overall rankings to reach a total of 558.5367 and to secure the silver medal, their country’s first-ever Olympic medal.
“It’s just the most incredible, cherry-on-the-top of over a decade of friendship, training together,” Shortman said. “We’ve seen each other at our very best and our very worst, so it’s been a hard and very long journey, but we are so happy that we are here and that we get to win this medal together.”
Dutch twins Bregje and Noortje de Brouwer, who claimed two golds at this year’s European Championships and silver in the duet free at the World Championships, won the bronze here in Paris with a total score of 558.3963.
The sisters were also in the third position after the technical routine, and their solid swim in the free duet with their “Van Gogh” choreography guaranteed them a medal at these Games. This is also the Netherlands’ first Olympic medal in artistic swimming.
“I can’t stop smiling, it’s amazing to have this medal in our hands,” Noortje said. “After this season, everybody in the Netherlands was talking about it, telling us to come home with a medal. But It’s not that easy! We have to do the work, and then we will see what will happen. And we did it! We are so happy, we can celebrate now.”
Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina Alexandri of Austria experienced a heartbreaking final day of competition, especially as they were sitting in second after yesterday’s technical routine. Despite a secure and strong swim on their “Condor” choreography, their scores in this free duet just weren’t enough to overcome the surge of Great Britain and the Netherlands.
The triplet sisters ranked fifth in the free routine, and ultimately landed in fourth in the overall standings with a total of 555.6678. This fourth-place finish still represents Austria’s best placement at the Olympic Games in artistic swimming, but the two were still incredibly devastated about missing the podium by less than three points.
Overall, Europe was outstanding in this duet event, with five of the seven pairs competing in Paris finishing in the top eight. The duets of Greece and Israel also recorded their countries’ best-finishes at the Olympic Games in this event, placing sixth and 11th, respectively.
A few nations also got to showcase some new choreographies in this final event. Sofia Evangelia Malkogeorgou and Evangelia Platanioti – now a four-time Olympian – successfully completed the highest DD of the day (60.20) while unveiling their new “Yin Yang” choreography.
Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin and Iris Tio Casas of Spain also unveiled a brand-new free choreography tonight, set to the theme of the Sagrada Familia. They ultimately finished seventh in the overall standings with a score of 521.4837.
Anastasia Bayandina and Romane Lunel of France swam first and also showcased a new routine, set to Ravel’s “Bolero”. Unfortunately, they received two basemarks, meaning the home nation reached a total of 430.3803 for a 14th-place finish.
Finally, it was a new routine for Jaime Czarkowski and Megumi Field to swim tonight, but not a new choreography for the USA itself. Indeed, the nation went back to swimming to “Dark Necessities” by Red Hot Chilli Pepper, a song they had already used during the 2023 season. The Americans ranked 10th overall.
Higa Moe and Sato Tomoka of Japan unfortunately had a major mistake in one of their hybrids in the second half of the routine, which resulted in a basemark and significant synchronization deductions. The Japanese pair had to settle for eighth place with a total score of 507.0804.
The duet of Mexico faced the same fate, as Joana Jimenez and now four-time Olympian Nuria Diosdado of Mexico lost their timing on one of the hybrids in the routine, leading to the same penalizing consequences. The two placed 12th with a total score of 471.5946.
ARTICLE BY CHRISTINA MARMET
Cover photo: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia
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