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Russia lead the way in Olympic synchro swimming
SYDNEY, Sept 25 (AFP) - Russia's Olga Brusnikina and Maria Kisseleva were poised to win the Olympic synchronised swimming duet title after a high-scoring performance in Monday's free routine preliminary. The Russian pair, who were stripped of their European title after Kisseleva failed a drugs test, scored a near-perfect 64.480 after achieving three maximum 10 scores. Japan's Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda, were second with 63.960, with French pair Virginie Dedieu and Myriam Lignot, who assumed the European title after it was taken from the Russians, third with 63.094. The Russians swam a karate-themed routine marked by faultless synchronisation. After receiving two perfect 10 scores for artistic impression and one for technical merit, the 1998 world champions were firm favourites to win gold. Kisseleva was banned for one month when she tested positive for ephedrine shortly after the pair won the European duet title for the third successive time in Helsinki in July. Ephedrine usually carries a three-month suspension, but Kisseleva was given a lighter sentence after pleading that she had unwittingly taken the substance to control her weight. Russia and France have never won an Olympic synchronised swimming medal. The United States, Canada and Japan have won all the medals since the sport was introduced at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. The USA and Canadian teams were in fourth and fifth position, out of the 12 teams who made the cut. The other teams include China, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Korea, Switzerland and Brazil. Scores from Monday's preliminary round do not count in the final overall results. The 12 teams that advanced on Monday will perform their free routines again, and those scores will be combined with their technical scores for the final results.
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