The Spanish artistic swimming team met its minimum objective at the Doha Swimming World Championships by qualifying for the Paris Games after successively placing fifth, second and fourth in the three finals of acrobatic, technical and free routines successively. The swimmers led by Mayuko Fujiki obtained 302.82 points in the free final this Friday. They completed an exercise of great beauty and synchronization that, however, did not reach the speed and power levels that the United States (bronze), Japan (silver) and China (gold) achieved. The overall score, however, places Spain in third position after China and the United States, followed one point by Japan. If the teams evolve at the more or less expected pace, China will appear at the Paris Games as the big favorite and the other three teams will compete for silver and bronze.
“We are happy because we have done everything in our power and we have progressed as a team,” said Iris Tió. “The main objective has been achieved. Now we have half a year left to improve routines.”
Russia, penalized by a sanction that prevents it from presenting teams as a result of the war in Ukraine, and the impoverishment of Ukraine itself, which was eliminated after making three errors in the last final, has cleared the way for the contenders for Olympic medals. Russia, the secular hegemonic power, and Ukraine, its younger sister, took first and third place on the podium at the 2021 Games. The absence of the magnificent Slavic athletes, daughters of an unparalleled gymnastic and ballet culture, opened a vacuum in which China naturally established itself.
China, advised by former Spanish coach Ana Tarrés, leaves Doha as the absolute favorite to win the Olympic championship. Unless an accident, a blatant failure, changes the conditions of the tournament scheduled for Paris, the scores obtained by the Chinese in the World Cup place them in a separate orbit. As proof, the result of the free final: 339 points the Chinese achieved this Friday, a sidereal distance from the next ones, the Japanese, with 315. The battle for the remains of the Slavic shipwreck will bring together the United States in another corral (814 points in Doha overall), Spain (798), Japan (797), Italy (756) and Canada (738). The World Cup prologue sheds light on next summer’s contenders. After a decade away from the Olympic podium, Spain finds itself facing a great opportunity.