TOKYO (Reuters) – Svetlana Romashina won a record sixth gold to become the most decorated Olympian in synchronised swimming when she and Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) partner Svetlana Kolesnichenko won the duet competition on Wednesday.
The win took the 31-year-old Romashina, who has said she wants to retire after Tokyo, to the top of the podium for duet in a third straight Games.
Going into Tokyo, Romashina, the veteran of three previous Olympics and holder of 21 world titles, had been tied for the record with compatriots Anastasia Davydova and Natalia Ishchenko, her former partner.
The ROC duo’s speed and coordinated moves gained a combined 195.9079 points.
China’s Rio silver medallists Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan took silver with 192.4499. Ukrainians Marta Fiedina and Anastasiya Savchuk edged out hosts Japan with 189.4620 for bronze, their nation’s first Olympic synchronised swimming medal.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies and Mayu Sakoda, editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)
