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Olympic Synchronized Swimming Recaps: 2 August (Day 14)

Free Routine/Team Final

United States Wins Gold; Canada and Japan Finish Two-Three

The United States won its fifth gold medal in synchronized swimming in the history of the Olympic Games on Friday night at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The U.S. team received nine perfect scores of 10 in the free routine, including five scores of 10 on technical merit, to accumulate 99.720 total points. It was just the second time ever a team received 100 points as the United States also received a perfect score in the free routine at the 1995 NationsBank World Cup championships.

Canada was the only other team in the evening's competition to receive a 10, albeit just one, which was discarded as the highest and lowest scores are not included in the average. The Canadians won the silver medal, which was their fifth in Olympic Games history, with a total of 98.367 points.

Japan finished third with a point average of 97.753. It was the seventh time Japan captured the bronze medal. The Japanese were challenged for the final medal by the Russian Federation which put together a routine that earned it a score of 97.260.

The free routine accounted for 65 percent of the total team score as 35 percent of the technical routine from Tuesday's competition was carried over.

Synchronized swimming made its debut at the Olympic Games in 1984 and since then the United States and Canada have won all available gold and silver medals. Japan has won seven bronze medals in Olympic Games history. The 1996 Olympic Games marked the first-ever synchronized swimming team competition. In previous Games, the competition included solo and duet routines.

Final: GOLD: United States, 99.720; SILVER: Canada, 98.367; BRONZE: Japan, 97.753.


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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