Russia rules the Team Free, too
Russia triumphs in the last Synchronised Swimming appointment, too: the Free Team, the most spectacular one. In front of crowd stands, Russian athletes offer a record performance reaching the score of 99.167 points, with two tens in the artistic impression. Silver medal for the Spanish team and bronze one for Chinese: the ranking is consolidated in years. After these champions, the Canadian team preceded the Italians, who started with the “Godfathers’” music.
Anastasia DAVYDOVA (RUS) – Gold medal
«We are satisfied. We are not saying we are the best: it is just a matter of fact. The judges' score proved it. We trained hard on our lifts over the past two months. We were already aware that if we performed good lifts, we would have placed first. In this discipline, there is no one in the team who is leading. It is a teamwork based on technical skills. We feared China and Spain. We felt more confident after the judges' score, both in the technical merit and in the artistic impression. Now we will rest».
Thais HENRIQUEZ (ESP) – Silver Medal
«The final ranking of these world championships reflects the hard work all the top teams did. This depends also of the pleasure of working together. We need more accuracy to reach the Russian team's level . For today's event we tried to innovate as much as possible. The program was new and we have worked on it just for a short time. Gemma's (Mengual) participation in today's final team event was planned before coming to Rome. She is a key member of the team. In view of the Shangai 2011 World Championships, we would like to improve our coreography and some elements of our performance».
Xiaohuan ZHANG (CHN) – Bronze Medal
«I am crying because this was my last performance before I retire. I am very happy for the Chinese team. As captain, I feel very proud for what we achieved at these world championships. We took part in five events and we clinched five medals. We have had a big improvement over the past few years. The judges showed they really liked our performances. This is all I wanted. After my retirement, I will become a coach».
张晓欢说了自己的道别感言:“我哭是因为这是这是我退役前的最后一场比赛。我为中国队感到高兴。作为队长,我为了我们在本届世界锦标赛的成就感到由衷得自豪。我们在所有参加的5个项目里面都获得了奖牌。我们在过去的几年的取得了巨大的进步。裁判们也很喜欢我们的表演。这就是所有我想要的。我退役后,会选择当一位花泳教练。” |