Synchronised swimming or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA. It is traditionally a women's sport, although FINA introduced a new mixed duet competition at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships that included male swimmers.
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon or rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coordinated. Rhythmic gymnastics is governed by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), which first recognized it as a sport in 1963. It became an Olympic sport in 1984, with an individual all-around event. The group all-around competition was added to the Olympics in 1996. At the international level, rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only sport. The most prestigious competitions, besides the Olympic Games, are the World Championships, World Games, European Championships, European Games, the World Cup Series and the Grand Prix Series. Gymnasts are judged on their artistry, execution of skills, and difficulty of skills, for which they gain points. They perform leaps, balances, and rotations along with handling the apparatus.
Alexei Yurievich Nemov is a former artistic gymnast from Russia. Nemov is most celebrated gymnasts of all time. During his career, he won five world championships, three European championships and twelve Olympic medals.
Torvill and Dean are English ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold and became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for a single programme, receiving twelve perfect 6.0s and six 5.9s which included artistic impression scores of 6.0 from every judge, after skating to Maurice Ravel's Boléro. One of the most-watched television events ever in the United Kingdom, their 1984 Olympics performance was watched by a British television audience of more than 24 million people.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the team event in women's synchronized swimming was contested. It was the first appearance of the team event, which replaced the duet and solo events held previously.
Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive gymnastic discipline where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform figures consisting of acrobatic moves, dance and tumbling, set to music. There are three types of routines; a 'balance' routine where the focus is on strength, poise and flexibility; a 'dynamic' routine which includes throws, somersaults and catches, and a 'combined' routine which includes elements from both balance and dynamic.
The women's duet event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, took place inside the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre from 23 to 25 August. Reigning world champions Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia overwhelmed the audience with an extraordinarily synchronous and impressive performance to defend their Olympic title with a final merit of 99.334 points. Japan's Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda maintained a silver-medal streak in their second Olympics with 98.417, while U.S.A. duo Anna Kozlova and Alison Bartosik climbed out from behind to earn a bronze with 96.918.
The women's team event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, took place at the Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre from 26 to 27 August. The Russian synchronized swimmers delivered a superb performance to defend their Olympic title in the event, having received a straight line of five perfect marks from the judges for a composite score of 99.501. Japan maintained a silver-medal streak on its second Olympics by a single point short of Russia's score with 98.501, after displaying their explosive lifts and quick changes of pattern throughout the routine. Having failed to secure an Olympic medal in the sport from the previous Olympics, the U.S. squad assembled a colorful demonstration of multiple sequences and flying leaps to hold on for the bronze with a score of 97.418.
The men's individual all-around competition was one of eight events for male competitors in the artistic gymnastics discipline contested in the gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 14 and August 18 at the Olympic Indoor Hall. There were 98 competitors from 31 nations. Each nation could enter a team of 6 gymnasts or up to 2 individual gymnasts. The event was won by Paul Hamm of the United States, the nation's first victory in the men's all-around since the 1904 Games in St. Louis and second overall. It was the first medal of any color for an American in the men's all-around since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. South Korea took two medals, a silver for Kim Dae-Eun and a bronze for Yang Tae Young. The scoring of the final was disputed; Olympedia calls this "the most controversial men's gymnastic event ever."
The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors of the artistic gymnastics discipline contested in the gymnastics at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 14 and August 23 at the Olympic Indoor Hall. There were 79 competitors from 29 nations, with nations competing in the team event having up to 5 gymnasts and other nations having up to 2 gymnasts. The event was won by Igor Cassina of Italy, the nation's first victory in the horizontal bar and first medal of any color in the event since 1928. Paul Hamm took silver, the United States' first horizontal bar medal since 1992. Bronze went to Isao Yoneda of Japan, the once-dominant nation's first medal in the event since 1984.
The women's duet synchronized swimming event at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held from August 18 to 20, at the Beijing National Aquatics Center.
The women's team event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, took place at the Beijing National Aquatics Center from 22 to 23 August. The Russian squad had displayed their complex choreography with an unmatched precision in the free routine to defend their Olympic title for the third straight victory, having received a nearly perfect mark of 99.500 by the judges. Spain picked up a silver with 98.251 points, while the Chinese squad surpassed the 2004 Olympic silver medal team Japan by nearly a two-point advantage to claim a bronze for the host nation's first ever Olympic medal, recording a composite score of 97.334.
The women's team event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, took place at the Aquatics Centre from 9 to 10 August. Russia maintained its dominance in the sport, as the team delivered a nearly perfect, complex choreography for another gold medal at its fourth consecutive Olympics, having received a powerful, composite score of 197.030 by the judges. Meanwhile, the Chinese squad resisted the challenge from Spain on a historical breakthrough to add a silver in the event with 194.010, edging the Spaniards out of the pool to accept the bronze for a total score of 193.120.
The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was the last game of that year’s Olympic basketball tournament, and became one of the most controversial events in Olympic history. With the ending mired in controversy, the Soviet Union defeated Team USA by one point, marking the latter's first ever loss in the event. Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union won their first eight games of the tournament, with the US team having its overall Olympic record at 63–0 when they advanced to the final against the USSR. The final three seconds of the game were replayed three times until the Soviet team came out on top because of possible fixing for political reasons as the Cold War was ongoing at the time. The result of the game is disputed to this day. The United States team had won the previous seven gold medals at the Olympics, and was among the contenders to win another in Munich at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
The Women's team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, took place at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center from 14 to 16 August.
Marta Vadymivna Fiedina is a Ukrainian synchro swimmer. She is 2018 European Aquatics Championships champion.
The women's duet event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, took place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre from 2 to 4 August 2021. It was the 9th time the women's duet event was held at the Olympic Games.
The women's team event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, will take place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on 6 and 7 August 2021. It will be the 7th time the women's team event is held at the Olympic Games.
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.
Tomoka Sato is a Japanese artistic swimmer. At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, she and her younger brother Yotaro Sato became the first pair 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.
