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PARIS (Reuters) – China won its first gold medal in synchronized swimming at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, wowing judges with a splendid team performance and outperforming the United States, which took silver.
Russia, which has long dominated synchronized swimming, was excluded from the Olympics, and in their absence China won gold, the United States took silver and Spain took bronze.
The Chinese team, wearing a red swimsuit with sequins, threw a swimmer high into the air, and she somersaulted and leaped in the water to applause from the audience.
The theme of the Chinese acrobatic show was “The Light of Life,” with singers chanting during the song portion and the music adding a fierce background to the performance.
“I feel that this gold medal is not only a personal achievement and the realization of my personal dream for me, but also the dream of the entire Chinese synchronized swimming team,” said China’s Feng Yu. “We have a huge responsibility on our shoulders.”
Chinese coach Zhang Xiaohuan said the shape formed by the athletes was like a mountain, symbolizing the team’s efforts to win the gold medal.
“We want to show that this is about overcoming obstacles and climbing to great heights,” she said.
The Paris Olympics artistic swimming event introduced acrobatic moves involving complex jumps, flips and throws for the first time.
The United States performed an ethereal dance to the “Witches” theme and won its first team medal since the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The Chinese team’s total score was 996.1389 points, the American team’s score was 914.3421 points, and the Spanish team’s score was 900.7319 points.
The Chinese team is the favorite to win the acrobatic team event at the Paris Olympics, and they also have a chance to win another gold medal in the synchronized swimming duet event starting on Friday.
Teams from Russia and Belarus were banned from the Olympics because of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Belarus being used as a staging area.
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