China leads artistic swimming field in Russia’s absence – ESPN
With longtime powerhouse Russia absent from the Olympics following its invasion of Ukraine, the artistic swimming competition at the Paris Games commenced Monday with an unusual level of unpredictability.
China took the lead after the team technical routine, scoring 313.5538 points. Spain followed with 287.1475 points, while Italy and France closely trailed with 277.8304 and 277.7925 points, respectively.
Russia, which began its dominance in the sport—formerly known as synchronized swimming—at the 2000 Sydney Games, has claimed every Olympic gold since then, totaling 12 consecutive victories. However, due to international sports sanctions after the conflict in Ukraine, Russia has not participated in any major artistic swimming competitions since the Tokyo Olympics.
This year marks a historic change as men were eligible to compete in the team event for the first time. Despite this, none of the 10 participating teams included a male swimmer.
The team competition will continue on Tuesday with the free routine, followed by the acrobatic routine on Wednesday, which will determine the gold medal winners.
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