SINGAPORE –  If the results were any closer in Friday’s Mixed Duet Free event, it would have taken dental floss to separate the medallists.

Spain eked out the victory, scoring the highest marks for impression (188.75) based on their choreography, musicality, performance, and transitions. Great Britain earned the bronze (its first artistic medal of the championships) with the highest score for elements (155.2583). And the Neutral B pair scored just high enough in both categories to take the silver.

In the end, Iris Tio Casas, 22, joined Singapore’s triple-gold medal club with Dennis Gonzalaez Boneu in a story about heartbreak and the pain of separation.  It was Gonzalez Boneu’s first gold in the event after claiming bronze in 2023 and silver in 2024 with a different partner.

Gonzalez Boneu said, “It’s a dream for us because we knew that [Neutral Athletes B] were coming so we knew that it would be difficult to stay on top but we fought for the same [goal] all year.

“We feel very proud,” Tio Casas added. “We are happy that we can finish the season with a happy ending. Probably a lot of people of Spain will see this and we can be an example for little kids.”

Team Spain was also thinking long-term. Now that the Paris 2024 Olympics are over and Los Angeles 2028 lies ahead, Gonzalez Boneu said “we tried to start at the beginning of this Olympic cycle, doing our best to keep our names at the top of the competition.

“We’re so happy with our improvement this year,” he added, “but it’s not the end because we have a lot of things to improve. We will fight to do better.”

Meanwhile, Aleksandr Maltsev, 30, was edged out of his fourth gold medal in this event with his fourth partner, Olesia Platonova, 24, by a mere 0.4125 points. The “Neutral B” duo had been modifying their Flashdance program since 2023 to adapt to rule changes. Performing to the 1983’s film’s song “Maniac,” Platonov’s striped leotard costume was a throwback to the 1980’s aerobics craze – complete with a hot pink belt and headband.

Maltsev said he planned to take “a little rest” after claiming four medals in four events in Singapore (including three golds). When asked how much longer he envisioned himself competing, he didn’t say.

Meanwhile, Platonova called the silver medal “extraordinary. This is my first World Championships and I was waiting for this moment for so long, for this moment to compete. Aleksandr was first with solo then he performed the duet [technical program] with Mayya [Gurbanberdieva] and I was waiting for this day for the whole championships.

“Of course I was a little bit sad about the result; I wanted to be first,” she said, “but I’m eager to come back at the next world championships to prove our leadership.”

Great Britain’s up-and-coming Ranjuo Tomblin, 19, teamed up with 2024 Olympic silver medalist Isabelle Thorpe, 24, to capture the bronze with a performance about light and darkness.  

The Brits said they were pleased, especially after placing fourth in Duet Tech two days ago. 

“We were a little disappointed with that,” Thorpe said, “but we managed to turn it around, so we’re really happy,” especially since their biggest challenge leading up to Singapore was the short amount of time they had to prepare.

“Ranjuo has been to a lot of competitions this year, every World Cup and junior European competition, so he has had a very busy schedule,” Thorpe explained. “I was doing my third year of university as well, so we didn’t have a lot of time together leading up to this competition, but we managed to do quite well with the time we had.”

Italy’s Filippo Pelati, 18, and 2022 gold medalist Lucrezia Ruggiero, 25, placed fourth with their Argentine Tango program, 7.8965 points off the lead.

Colombia was more than 40 points behind the gold medalists in fifth place, followed by Chile (sixth) and China (seventh, hurt by two base marks on their first two acro elements).

Up Next:  

Artistic swimming concludes with the Team Acrobatic event later on Friday at 19:30 Singapore time.