Today’s scenario was predictable but nonetheless impressive – the Russian duet, formed by Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Alexandra Patskevich clinched the nation’s fifth gold medal in synchronised swimming at the 17th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The duet free final’s ranking remained equal to the duet technical final held in Varosliget Park on Sunday July 16, as well as Kazan 2015’s results. Russia, China and Ukraine reaffirmed their dominance in the sport, giving no chance to the other duets.

today's duet free final podium 

Kolesnichenko and Patskevich did not disappoint and ensured that Russia kept its leading position in this event since 2007 without exception. First Anastasia Davydova / Anastasia Ermakova won the event in 2007, and then Natalia Ishchenko / Svetlana Romashina were the best from 2009-2015, consistently taking gold at each edition of the FINA World Championships.

Kolesnichenko / Patskevich (RUS), gold

Today, the Russian pair, who claims “there is no limit to perfection” scored 97.0000 points for their routine (against 96.6333 in the preliminary round), defeating the Chinese sisters Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen, who took silver as they scored 95.3000.

China's twins Jiang, silver

Ukraine’s Anna Voloshyna and Yelyzaveta Yakhno secured the bronze medal in 93.2667.

Voloshyna / Yakhno (UKR), bronze

Yukiki Inui / Kanami Nakamaki (JPN, 4th), Ona Carbonell / Paula Ramirez (ESP, 5th), Linda Cerruti / Costanza Ferro (ITA, 6th), Jacqueline Simoneau / Claudia Holzner (CAN, 7th) and Evangelina Papazoglou / Evangelina Platanioti (GRE, 8th ) finished off the podium in the duet free final on Thursday July 20 in Budapest.

The individual and duet events are now over and the competition resumes tomorrow morning (July 21) at 11am with the team free final.

Follow all the synchronised swimming action at FINAtv and check out the detailed results here.

QUOTES

Svetlana Kolesnichenko (RUS), gold

“We worked hard to gain this result: 10-hours training almost every day at maximum limit. This was totally worth it.”

“I’m so pleased to be the four-time World Champion and the most titled synchro swimmer in Budapest. But I’m also happy, that the competitions are over for me. Now I’ll cheer up for the Russian free team and free mixed duet.”

AleksandraPatskevich (RUS), gold

“The mermaids was an Olympic program of Natalia Ischenko and Svetlana Romashina. But our routines are not similar. We performed it in our own way.”

“You know, that here we had our debut with Sveta as duet partners. We are Olympic champions in group event. Although, we needed time to get used to one another. That’s why we executed a new tech programme, but kept the free routine.”

Jiang Tingting (CHN), silver

“The music theme for our free duet routine is not a new composition. We used in at Worlds-2013 in Barcelona. The Swan lake suites us. We decided to keep the music and to make a new choreography.”

Jiang Wenwen (CHN), silver

“We have pretty high scores for the artistic impression. We are so glad to have shown a good performance. That was a team work that led to success.”

Anna Voloshina (UKR), bronze

“The preparation was very intense. I knew what to expect at the tournament – 14 performances. But I’m in good shape due to my hard training. So I enjoy my busy schedule.”

Yelisaveta Yakhno (UKR), bronze

“We have a new duet and a new routine. It was a big responsibility for me. I’m happy to be on the podium.”