The People’s Republic of China top score in the Duet Technical routine at Paris 2024, with just ten points separating second to sixth heading into tomorrow’s Duet Free.
The People’s Republic of China has continued their dominance in the Olympic Aquatics Centre pool, taking first honours on the first of two nights of competition in the Women’s Duet event. The Chinese pair of Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi scored 276.7867 points in the Duet Technical, top scoring in both Elements (174.6867) and Artistic Impression (102.1000). The twins won both the Duet Technical and Duet Free at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha at the start of the year, and tomorrow night they will be chasing China’s first-ever Olympic Games gold medal in the Duet event.
Just ten points separates the next five teams after the Duet Technical, with Austria (267.2533), Netherlands (264.7066), Great Britain (264.0282), Ukraine (260.4600), and Japan (257.3533), all in medal contention heading into the second and final night of competition. With Austria, Netherlands, and Great Britain all having never won an Olympic medal of any colour in Artistic Swimming, tomorrow night promises to be a history-making conclusion to the Paris 2024 aquatics program.
THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Wang Liuyi & Wang Qianyi) top scored on the first night of the Women’s Duet event at the Olympic Aquatics Centre, scoring 276.7867 with their 40.050 DD routine in the Duet Technical. Similarly to the Team event, China didn’t deliver the most difficult routine of the night, however their execution of the elements and artistic impression again swept the field. Their ‘Lotus’ routine has been a staple of this duet for the past two years, winning gold at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha earlier this year. The pairing of twins Wang Liuyi & Wang Qianyi, set to the music of Cai Ling, opened with a backwards somersault acrobatic element before transitioning into their first hybrid of the routine, a 12.150 DD with travelling bonus. China is placed first overall on 276.7867 points.
“Today, even though the performance was relatively stable, I feel I wasn’t in my best condition. This means that during tomorrow’s finals, I can perform better. I hope that is the case because we also hope to deliver a good performance in the final routine to achieve a great result,” said the People’s Republic of China’s Wany Qianyi.
AUSTRIA (Anna-Maria Alexandri & Eirini-Marina Alexandri) was one of the standout pairs on night one of competition, scoring 267.2533 points in the Duet Technical routine. Tonight was the first time the twins, who are part of a renowned set of triplets in the sport, have taken to the Paris pool. Their ‘We Will Rock You’ 39.300 DD routine placed second on the night. Set to the music of Queen, with choreography by Stephane Miermont, Freddie Mercury‘s signature movements were evident throughout the routine that featured many high-speed transitions and movements as part of a complex choreography. Prior to the performance the pair stated “this music inspires us a lot and fulfils us with energy and motivation… we are very much inspired by Freddie Mercury and his highly energetic performances, and his songs can very much be related to with all the situations athletes find themselves in.” Austria is placed second overall on 267.2533 points.
“It was a very good performance, I think our coach is satisfied, we are satisfied, it went really fast,” said Austria’s Anna-Maria Alexandri.
NETHERLANDS (Bregje de Brouwer & Noortje de Brouwer) took on the third hardest routine of the Duet Technical and scored 264.7066 points to place third on the night. Their ‘Disco Vibe’ routine was set to Far From Over, a one-hit wonder by Sylvester Stallone’s brother Frank from the 1983 movie Stayin Alive. While the song might be, the de Brouwer twins are far from one-hit wonders, having already won silver in the Duet Free at Doha 2024 and gold in the Duet Technical at the European Championships. Tonight’s routine, choreographed by their long-term coach Esther Jauma, was highlighted by an opening long hybrid, a technical element in the middle of the routine which had height synchronised with the music, and a final 26-second 12.050 DD hybrid that built with the increasing tempo to close. The Netherlands is third overall on 264.7066 points.
“For tomorrow, we want to do like our best like crazy to keep this position, but we’ll see, it's super close so anything can happen, but we will stay focussed,” said the Netherlands’ Bregje de Brouwer.
GREAT BRITAIN (Kate Shortman & Isabelle Thorpe) well and truly arrived in Paris, making an instant impact in the Duet Technical scoring 264.0282 points with their ‘Clocks’ routine. Set to the music of British composer Gareth Coker and German producer Jo Blankenburg, the 40.100 DD routine choreographed by Yumiko Tomomatsu and Karen Thorpe climaxed with a long final hybrid with many rotations and a travelling-bonus. Shortman and Thorpe have been swimming as a duet since they were 11 years-old and boast a personal history that spans multiple generations. Thrope’s mother Karen is currently coaching the duet, herself having competed in a duet with Shortman’s mother Maria over thirty years-ago. The synergy this pair, and these families have, was evident in their Duet Technical routine this evening. Speaking to the choice of music, the pair explained prior to their performance “it has character and has a clear theme, it helps create the artistic impression for the routine.” Great Britain is fourth overall on 264.0282 points.
“We’re really happy with that… we’ve looked at the bronze and we’re like 0.7 off the medal, so it’s definitely in reach tomorrow. I think we’re going to make a few changes tonight ahead of tomorrow’s competition,” said Great Britain’s Isabelle Thorpe.
UKRAINE (Maryna Aleksiiva & Vladyslava Aleksiiva) were outstanding with their moving Saidova Svitlana choreographed ‘State Of Our Soul’ routine. The 39.600 DD routine scored 260.4600 points, an almost fifty-point improvement from their score at Doha 2024. Ukraine is fifth overall on 260.4600 points.
“We are so excited to be here and to represent our country, especially when it’s war now in Ukraine… it’s a big responsibility and honour for us to be here and part of the Olympics,” said Ukraine’s Vladyslava Aleksiiva.
JAPAN (Moe Higa & Tomoka Sato) scored 257.3533 with their ‘Cool Japan’ 40.500 DD routine. Higa is a former world champion in this event, however her pairing with Sato was only conceived at the start of this year. Japan underperformed in the team event earlier this week so will be pleased to be in medal contention after night one of the duet event. Japan is sixth overall on 257.3533 points.
SPAIN (Alisa Ozhogina & Iris Tio) added another Michael Jackson performance to the Paris line-up, scoring 254.0816 points with their 40.100 DD ‘Beat It!’ routine. Their choreography by Mayuko Fujiki included great height on the second element, transitioning into their first hybrid that integrated difficulty and musicality in synchronisation with trademark Michael Jackson moves. Their bent-knee Barracuda, into the final 11.850 DD hybrid, had the crowd on their feet. The new choreography was developed for this season with the pair at their second Olympics as a duet. Unlike many pairs in action tonight, Ozhogina and Tio were also part of Spain’s bronze medal winning team on Wednesday night. Spain is seventh overall on 254.0816 points.
GREECE (Sofia Evangelia Malkogeorgou & Evangelia Platanioti) took on the hardest routine of the night, with their 43.200 DD ‘The Kites’ routine including a first hybrid element that was the only fourteen-plus degree of difficulty element across all teams. The routine received a basemark, that was subsequently removed on appeal. Greece is eighth on 250.4584 points.
ISRAEL (Shelly Bobritsky & Ariel Nassee) backed up their fifth place in this event at Doha 2024, to place eighth in tonight’s Duet Technical with their 38.900 DD ‘Sunrise’ routine. Israel is ninth overall on 243.0666 points.
FRANCE (Anastasia Bayandina & Romane Lunel) had the home crowd in full voice and clapping along as they opened the competition on night one performing to Born to Be Alive by French singer Patrick Hernandez. The new pairing went basemark-free with their 37.750 DD ‘Disco’ routine. France is tenth overall on 241.3116 points.
MEXICO (Nuria Diosdado & Joana Jimenez) again showed why they are one of Pan-America’s strongest nations in the sport with the veteran duet’s 37.600 DD ‘80s Mashup’ routine outscoring both Canada and the United States. The only pair in the competition that are both in their thirties had plenty of fun in the pool this evening, with the crowd loving every minute of it. Mexico is eleventh overall on 238.9383 points.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Jaime Czarkowski & Megumi Field) has been on a high since their ground-breaking silver medal in the Mixed Team event on Wednesday night. Two of that team were back in the pool for the duet event tonight, with the pair’s 37.700 DD ‘Eat The Forbidden Apple’ routine one of the most unique and entertaining musical choices in the competition. The United States of America is placed twelfth on 230.7134 points.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA (Hur Yoonseo & Lee Riyoung) brought classical music to the Duet Technical with their 37.700 DD ‘Code Vivaldi’ routine prepared specifically for these Olympic Games. Korea currently sits thirteenth overall on 227.5667 points.
AUSTRALIA (Rayna Buckle & Kiera Gazzard) took on their 34.350 DD ‘Charlie’s Angels’ routine to the music of Apollo 440, going basemark-free to swim on par with their Doha 2024 performance. Australia is fourteenth on 210.0782 points.
CANADA (Jacqueline Simoneau & Audrey Lamothe) is one of the newer pairs in the Paris competition having only started together in December 2023. The Paris leg of the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup was their first major competition together, and tonight’s ‘James Bond’ 41.100 DD routine has only been a work-in-progress since March. Canada is fifteenth overall on 201.5167 points.
EGYPT (Nadine Barsoum & Hana Hiekal) ensured there was at least two Greek anthems echoing around the Olympic Aquatics Centre on night one with their 36.650 DD ‘Greek Dance’ routine. The pair received a basemark on their second hybrid, which was the final element of their routine. Egypt is sixteenth overall on 196.5250 points.
NEW ZEALAND (Nina Brown & Eva Morris) brought their 30.750 DD ‘Thriller’ routine to the Paris pool, with the World Aquatics Scholarship holders just the third duet to ever represent their nation at an Olympic Games. New Zealand is currently placed seventeenth on 188.0901 points.
ITALY (Linda Cerruti & Lucrezia Ruggiero) withdrew from the competition prior to the commencement of this evening’s Duet Technical routine.