GWANGJU, South Korea, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia won their tenth consecutive FINA World Aquatics Championships gold medal in the team technical event here on Tuesday.
Portraying a traditional national dance, Russia scored 96.9426 points to reassert their dominance of artistic swimming, having also claimed gold in this year's solo, duet and mixed technical routines.
Russia has now topped the podium of the team technical event in every FINA World Championships since the 1998 tournament in Perth, Australia.
"I don't think it was an ideal version of our routine. But our head coach Tatiana Pokrovskaya was smiling," said Russia's Maria Shurochkina. "This is the main criteria of success for us. It means she was pleased and we did well."
Chasing the dream of their first-ever World Championships gold in the event, China fell just short, scoring 95.1543 points to win their second artistic swimming silver at Gwangju.
"Just like the theme of our routine today, we have been chasing this dream since we started competing in the World Championships," said Huang Xuecheng, "We are getting closer to it now."
Having won the country's first-ever World Championships gold medal on Monday in the highlight event, Ukraine took bronze in the team technical with 93.4514 points.
"We were anxious about increasing our level after failing to win a medal in the team technical two years ago. But we worked hard and moved forward," said Ukraine's Maryna Aleksiiva.
