Russians reign supreme in sync swimming

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Sydney: Russia consigned North American domination of Olympic synchronised swimming to the past with a stylish victory in the team event on Friday to complete a sweep of the two Sydney synchro titles.

Olga Brusnikova and Maria Kisseleva, who won the duet title on Tuesday, featured in a virtuoso display by the Russians, who performed an innovative free routine of fluid movement and controlled artistry to the music of Mussorgsky's ''night on the bare mountain''.

Japan, who performed to a composition called ''the bird of wonder'', ran them close in intricate skill and even outscored them in perfect 10s - five for Japan, four of them for artistic impression compared with four for Russia, two for technical merit and two for artistic impression.

But Russia deservedly won the golds with their clever patterns and enterprising combinations, amassing 99.146 points in the two-day competition, as Japan took silver (98.860) and Canada, who chose an Olympic sporting theme to the music of the film ''chariots of fire'', bronze (97.357).

The US, defending champions, starting their free routine to a number called ''other side of Antarctica'', were frozen out of the medals, finishing fifth just behind France.

The Russians had never won an Olympic synchro medal before Sydney but had already established their global superiority, having won all three synchro titles - solo, duet and team - at the 1998 world championships in Perth.

Brusnikova and Kisseleva were stripped of the European duet title in July when Kisseleva tested positive for ephedrine after they had won the crown for the third successive time in Helsinki in July.



(c) Reuters Limited.