Spain’s Women’s Duet and Mixed Duet athletes produced two sublime performances to end Russia’s one hundred percent winning streak at the World Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in Hungary.
Russia, who won all 11 events at the European Junior Championships in Munich last month, had won five from five heading into the penultimate day of competition, but would finish with one additional title, by winning the Team Acrobatic final.
In the first showdown of the day; Kristina Chekhanova (RUS) and Anastasiia Sidorina (RUS) delivered a strong performance, attaining an overall score of 294.0996 points for their ‘Two elements of one mechanism’ themed routine in the Women’s Duet Free final.
However, that total was somewhat surprisingly bettered by pairings from two other nations.
Naia Alvarez (ESP) and Daniela Suarez (ESP), who finished second behind their Russian rivals twice in Germany and were third in the Duet Technical event in Budapest on Thursday, saved their best performance of season for their duet finale.
The exceptional execution of their ‘Diva’ themed choreography saw them awarded an overall gold medal-winning score of 298.6813pts.
China’s He Zhien (CHN) and Zhou Kunyi (CHN) secured their respective second and third silver medals of Budapest 2026, with a score of 294.0701pts.
The Spanish national anthem was also heard in Budapest’s iconic Duna Arena following the Mixed Duet Free final, which saw 16-year-olds Arlet Arnan (ESP) and Eneko Sanchez (ESP) excel.
The pair had already secured silver in the Mixed Duet Technical discipline on Friday and produced an outstanding display, with judges awarding them 263.2992pts for their energetic ‘step up’ themed routine.
Following them, on the next step of the podium and securing a second medal for their nation at Budapest 2026, were Kazakh duo Yasmina Islamova (KAZ) and Aldiyar Ramazanov (KAZ), who scored 248.1058pts.
Completing the top-three were Japan’s Heizo Aitaka (JPN) and Manami Dodo (JPN) who achieved a total of 246.9850pts, narrowly securing bronze ahead of China, who were just 0.2641pts behind.
The final event of day four at the 2026 World Aquatics Junior Artistic Swimming Championships saw 18 nations go head-to-head for the prestigious Team Free Acrobatic.
Russia again showed the kind of form which not only secured them the European title in Germany, but also saw the country claim the Team Technical crown earlier in the week.
They scored a colossal 232.2147 points, which was 29.1221 more than their nearest rivals – Kazakhstan (203.0926pts).Belarus (200.9700pts) joined them on the podium, securing their nation’s first medal of the competition.
The last day of Budapest 2026 will see athletes compete for three final gold medals, with the Women’s Solo Free (10:00am CEST), Men’s Solo Free (12:00 CEST) and Team Free (16:00 CEST) Finals taking place at the Duna Arena.