Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Kate Elizabeth Shortman |
Nationality | British |
Born | Bristol, England | 19 November 2001
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Synchronised swimming |
Medal record |
Kate Elizabeth Shortman (born 19 November 2001) [1] is a British synchronised swimmer, the most successful in her nation's history. With partner Isabelle Thorpe, she won a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the duet, the first medal won by Great Britain in the sport.
Shortman competed in the women's duet event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. [2] She has also represented Great Britain at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In 2023 at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, she won a first world medal in the solo free routine, after winning a duet bronze with Thorpe at the 2023 European Games. The following year saw consistent silver medal success for Shortman and Thorpe in European, World and finally Olympic duet.
At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, she finished in 10th place in the solo technical routine and in 11th place in the solo free routine. [3] [4] Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe competed in the duet technical routine and duet free routine and they finished in 14th place in the preliminary round in both events. [5] [6]
In 2021, she competed in the solo free routine, the duet free routine and duet technical routine events at the 2020 European Aquatics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.
She finished in 7th place in the solo technical routine at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe finished in 9th place in the duet technical routine.
At the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Thorpe and Shortman won the silver medal in the Duet technical routine competition, becoming the first Britons to do so. [7] The pair followed this up with bronze in the Duet free routine competition. [8] This ensured the duo's qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics [9] where they won a silver medal. [10] [11] [12] This was the first ever medal for Great Britain in artistic swimming at the Olympics. [10]
Shortman was born in Bristol. She attended Redland High School and Redmaids' High School before attending Clifton High School along with Isabelle Thorpe. [13] [14] Shortman earned a Bill Whiteley Scholarship to study International Management and French at the University of Bath. [15]
Shortman and Thorpe train at the City of Bristol Swimming Club. [16]
Artistic swimming has been an event at the Summer Olympics since the 1984 Games. The current Olympic program consists of a Women's Duet event and a Mixed Team event.
Linda Cerruti is an Italian competitor in synchronised swimming who competed at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, 2013 World Aquatics Championships, 2010 European Aquatics Championships, 2012 European Aquatics Championships. and in Duet at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary and at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy.
Yukiko Inui is a Japanese competitor in synchronised swimming. She won Japan's first gold medal in each the solo technical routine and the solo free routine at a FINA World Aquatics Championships at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the duet event with Megumu Yoshida, and in the team event.
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Marta Vadymivna Fiedina is a retired Ukrainian synchro swimmer. She is a twice Olympic bronze medalist.
Isabelle Thorpe is a British synchronised swimmer who won a silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the duet. She competed in the women's duet event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She also represented Great Britain at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary and at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. She also competed at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. She trains at the City of Bristol Swimming Club.
Vasilina Khandoshka is a Belarusian synchronized swimmer. She competed in the women's duet event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She also represented Belarus at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary and at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
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Shelly Bobritsky is an Israeli Olympic swimmer who competes in Artistic swimming. She competed in the 2020 Olympics in duet, was the European Champion in the free combination event in 2023, and was a three-time European medalist as well as a two-time European Cup bronze medalist. Bobritsky represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in artistic swimming women's duet with Ariel Nassee, and the pair came in 11th.
Marluce Schierscher is a synchronized swimmer from Liechtenstein. She competed in the women's duet event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. This was also the first time Liechtenstein competed in artistic swimming at the Summer Olympics.
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Gustavo Adolfo Sánchez is a Colombian artistic swimmer. He won two gold medals in the solo free routine at the 2022 Artistic Swimming World Series as well as a bronze medal in the mixed duet technical routine. His gold medal in the solo free routine at the Paris stop of the 2022 World Series marked the first gold medal won by an artistic swimmer representing Colombia at a FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. He is a 2022 Bolivarian Games champion in the mixed duet routine. At World Aquatic Championships, he placed sixth in the mixed duet technical routine in 2022 and eighth in 2019, as well as sixth in the mixed duet free routine in 2022 and eighth in 2019.
Yotaro Sato is a Japanese artistic swimmer. He won the silver medal in the mixed duet technical routine at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships with his older sister Tomoka Sato, which was the first medal for Japan in the event at a FINA World Aquatics Championships other than a bronze medal, as well as a silver medal in the mixed duet free routine. As part of the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, he won one gold medal and one silver medal in the mixed duet free routine and one gold medal in the mixed duet technical routine. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, he became the first male artistic swimmer to win the silver medal each in the solo technical routine and the solo free routine at a World Junior Championships.
Javier Enrique Ruisanchez Torres Zayas is a Puerto Rican artistic swimmer and former pool swimmer. He is a nine-time medalist at the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series, winning eight medals at the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he and his partner Nicolle Torrens became the first artistic swimmers representing Puerto Rico to qualify for, and compete in, a final of a mixed gender duet event at a FINA World Aquatics Championships, finishing eleventh in the mixed duet free routine and twelfth in the mixed duet technical routine.
Tomoka Sato is a Japanese artistic swimmer. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, she and her younger brother Yotaro Sato became the first duo representing Japan to win a silver medal in the mixed duet technical routine, they also became the first representing Japan to win a silver medal in the mixed duet free routine. She also won a silver in the team technical routine and a bronze medal in the team free routine at the same Championships. Earlier in the year, she won a gold medal in the mixed duet technical routine and a gold medal and a silver medal in the mixed duet free routine as part of the 2022 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series. At the 2018 World Junior Artistic Swimming Championships, she won three bronze medals in team events.
The women's duet event at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held from 9 to 10 August 2024 at the Paris Aquatic Centre. In the absence of Russian swimmers, the Chinese pair of Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi broke the Russian streak of six consecutive titles. The minor medals went to Great Britain's Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe and the Netherlands' Bregje and Nooryje de Brouwer, the first Olympic medals in the sport for both nations.