Ten gold medals have been shared across eight nations over the first three days of competition, and with three more finals taking place today, will there be any more nations on day four that secure their first gold of Doha 2024.
Artistic Swimming | Women Duet Technical
Greece, Kazakhstan and the People’s Republic of China have claimed the first three Artistic Swimming gold medals of Doha 2024, and today another two gold medals will decided as the technical program of events nears its end.
Athletes to Watch:
Wang Liui & Wang Qianyi (CHN): The Women Duet Technical at Fukuoka 2023 provided some of the most significant changes between preliminaries and finals with the 8th, 9th and 12th ranked teams from the preliminaries winning medals, whilst the number one ranked team from the People’s Republic of China slipped to fourth. That Chinese pairing of Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi will be out to redeem their Fukuoka performance and will also be aiming to add to their Budapest 2022 gold in this event. If the pair avoid any basemarks in the final expect their score to well exceed their 269.8883 from the preliminaries, remembering their preliminary score in Fukuoka was 280.3444 - just five points shy of their all-time career best of 285.4041.
Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin & Iris Tio Casas (ESP): The Spanish team are still yet to fire here in Doha having arrived with big expectations after taking home seven medals in Fukuoka including three gold. If there ever was a pairing to kickstart their Doha campaign it is Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin and Iris Tio Casas the bronze medallists in this event last year. This pair won two golds at the World Aquatics Artistic Swimming World Cup last year, including the Super Final, and expect an increase in degree of difficulty in at least one element this afternoon as the pair attempt to put Spain back on the medal tally here in Doha.
Previous Championships
2023: Gold – Moe Higa & Mashiro Yasunaga (JPN), Silver – Linda Cerruti & Lucrezia Ruggiero (ITA), Bronze – Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin & Iris Tio Casas (ESP)
2022: Gold - Wang Liuyi & Wang Qianyi (CHN), Silver - Maryna Aleksiiva & Vladyslava Aleksiiva (UKR), Bronze – Anna-Maria Alexandri & Eirini-Marina Alexandri (AUT)
Diving | Women 10m Platform
There are three rounds of competition in this challenging event with the final twelve divers chasing gold this afternoon at the Hamad Aquatic Center.
Athletes to Watch:
Chen Yuxi (CHN): It’s difficult to consider anyone else for the gold medal in this event than the People’s Republic of China’s Chen Yuxi. The three-time returning champion has dominated this event over the past half decade and at a World Aquatics Championships level no one (other than a fellow teammate) has got within 70 points of Chen in the final.
Melissa Wu (AUS): Australian diver Melissa Wu will face a challenge to get through this morning’s semi finals, however, if she does, the now 31-year-old will have nothing to lose as she faces up against the pair of elite Chinese divers. Wu is Australian diving royalty. A four-time Olympian (and two-time medallist), three-time Commonwealth Games medallist, and also a three-time World Aquatics Championships medallist including a silver medal in this event back at Melbourne 2007 as a 15-year-old. Any medal here would be such a fitting return to the World Aquatics Championships dais for fan favourite Wu.
Previous Championships:
2023: Gold – Chen Yuxi (CHN), Silver – Quan Hongchan (CHN), Bronze – Caeli McKay (CAN)
2022: Gold – Chen Yuxi (CHN), Silver – Quan Hongchan (CHN), Bronze – Pandelela Rinong (MAS)
Artistic Swimming | Men Solo Technical
It’s been a long wait for the first individual male final in Doha with the Men Solo Technical kicking off the competition on day one before a three-day wait for tonight’s final.
Athletes to Watch:
Eduard Kim (KAZ): We tend to throw around terms like ‘trailblazer’ and ‘history maker’ a little too frequently these days, but in the case of 18 year-old Eduard Kim, never have two works been more fitting. In Fukuoka last year Kim won Kazakhstan’s first ever medal in any discipline at a World Aquatics Championships when he took bronze in the Men’s Solo Technical. Last night, paired with Nargiza Bolatova, he won Kazakhstan’s first ever World Aquatics Championships title. Humble, hardworking, and with an entire nation of 19 million behind him – it’s hard to go against this teenager, who is now also, a world champion.
Gustavo Sanchez (COL): Strong across both the technical and free disciplines, Colombia’s Gustavo Sanchez was fourth in this event last year while also medalling in the free. On day one of competition he progressed through to the final in second and will be aiming to become just the second ever world champion in this event following the now retired Fernando Diaz del Rio’s gold when the event’s debuted in Fukuoka in 2023.
Previous Championships:
2023: Gold - Fernando Diaz del Rio (ESP), Silver – Kenneth Gaudet (USA), Bronze – Eduard Kim (KAZ)