Olympic Synchronised Swimming 2016: Duet Medal Winners, Scores and Results

The Russian duo of Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina easily took the gold medal in the women's synchronised swimming duets free routine final on Tuesday, beating China and Japan to the top spot at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

Russia had won the last four gold medals in the event and were clear favourites entering the final, and Ishchenko and Romashina nailed their routine, going for the highest technical difficulty of anyone in the field and finishing with the best marks in the execution department as well.

Here's a look at the medallists, complete with their final scores:

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
	Natalia Ischenko and Svetlana Romashina, Russia	Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan, China	Inui Yukiko and Risako Mitsui, Japan
Score	194.9910	192.3688	188.0547

Recap

Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

Canada kicked off the duets free final with a solid performance, earning a score of 179.8916 for a complex routine that scored just under 90 on the technical scale and set the bar high for the favourites.

As shared by Rachel Lutz of NBC Sports, the Russians were the favourites to once again win the gold, but the Chinese duo of Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan impressed during the first two rounds and were eyeing an upset:

Russia's Ishchenko and Romashina opted for a routine with a technical difficulty of 96.4577, an extremely high mark, while China barely played it safer with a 95.3688. Japan and Ukraine, the favourites for the bronze, both went with routines in the 93 range.

Greece, Austria and Mexico didn't come close to Canada's opening score before the American duo of Anita Alvarez and Mariya Koroleva started their routine.

The U.S. Olympic Team's official Twitter account marked the occasion with one of the best tweets of the Olympics:

The American team finished without any penalties and with a score of 173.9945, good for second place behind the Canadians, with the favourites still to come.

TV personality Michelle Collins was loving the action:

The French team knocked the American duo back into third place before the Russians took to the pool with their eyes on the gold. Ishchenko and Romashina put together a fantastic routine, receiving no scores lower than 9.8 from the judges to take the lead with a huge score of 194.9910.

China followed immediately after, and the duo scored 9.7 across the board from the judges to settle in behind Russia. 

Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

Japan's Inui Yukiko and Risako Mitsui failed to crack the 190 barrier, opening the door for Ukraine to steal the bronze. Lolita Ananasova and Anna Voloshyna came very close, but their execution wasn't as sharp as that of the Japanese duo, and they finished less than a point short.