Paris Olympics: Wang twins win China’s first artistic swimming gold in duet event
- Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi beat 3 other sister acts to add to their country’s team gold medal, and making the Chinese the sport’s new force
China claimed their first gold medal in the duet artistic swimming event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, as the Wang twins did just enough to hold off three other pairs of sisters fighting for the title.
China also won the team artistic swimming event on Wednesday, making them the new dominant force in the sport. Russia have won the most gold medals in artistic swimming but were excluded from Paris in the wake of their invasion of Ukraine.
Britain and the Netherlands won their first medals in the sport, with silver and bronze, respectively.
Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi began their free routine in dramatic fashion, crawling like panthers to the edge of the water before diving in. As they had done during their technical routine on Friday, the twins commanded the pool, gliding gracefully during their performance and stretching through the space in the water.
The sisters had stood in the gold medal position after Friday’s technical routine, but with a lead of only 9.5 points, their win was not assured.
As they awaited their score, the Wangs sat on the edge of the bench, jumping up and bursting into tears when they saw they had won the gold.
