After a two-decade dry spell, the United States earned hardware in Olympic artistic swimming Wednesday by securing a silver medal at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, France.
The victory marks the first Olympic podium finish for the U.S. in artistic swimming, formerly called synchronized swimming, since the Americans won bronze in the team and duet events at the 2004 Athens Games.
Russia had dominated the event in recent years, winning gold in the team and duet competitions in each of the prior six Games. But with Russia barred from the Paris Olympics after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the path was cleared for a new titleholder.
China won the gold with a final score of 996.1389, while the U.S. finished with a score of 914.3421. The two nations entered Wednesday as the leaders following the technical and free routines, with the Chinese ahead. China outscored the U.S. on its acrobatic routine to maintain the points lead and clinch the top spot.
The U.S. team’s technical routine Monday went viral as the squad, led by coach Andrea Fuentes, performed to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” During a portion of the routine, the athletes flipped underwater and did an upside-down moonwalk as a tribute to Jackson.
“We decided from the beginning to take high risk (difficulty), and we’re pretty proud of that because it has been opening the door to success since we have changed that,” Fuentes, an Olympic medalist for Spain, told NBCOlympics.com.
(Photo: Manan Vatsyayana / AFP via Getty)
