The U.S. team won a medal in the artistic swimming team competition, formerly known as synchronized swimming, for the first time in nearly two decades.
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After the Americans missed qualification by 0.66 points last year, they got their ticket to Paris a few months ago.
"It was a huge disappointment," Jacklyn Luu, a U.S. team member said in reference to the letdown. "We really used that disappointment to fuel us."
That is to say, they took full advantage of their 2024 Olympics appearance in Paris Wednesday night, as they wowed the crowd with stellar routines to close out the competition.
In view of their Olympic medal performance at the Aquatics Center on Wednesday night, there was one set in particular that stood out, as the crowd witnessed an eye-catching underwater "moonwalking" act performed to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal."
Luu continued, "You could feel the energy from each other in the water... It worked so well, each routine, each lift that we did, it was just magical."
Full video:
USA simply killed the show at the Tokyo Olympics with their iconic Synchronized Swimming performance, with Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal. 🇺🇸
— TheForgotThings (@TheForgotthings) August 6, 2024
The U.S. artistic swimming team, who put up two of the highest scoring routines to close out the competition, finished with a score of 914.34 points to win the silver medal. Notably, the Americans were runner-up behind China, who put up an impressive score of 996.14, as they demonstrated a few flawless routines.
"It means everything to us," U.S. team member Daniela Ramirez stated after the event. "All the work that we put into this for the past eight years, but especially these last four years, I think has been an amazing testament to what this silver medal means."
To mention, this medal had extra meaning for Anita Alvarez, as she passed out during the 2022 world championships, and had to be saved by her coach Andrea Fuentes, who jumped in the water fully clothed to save her.
"Chasing the medal for the first time in 20 years," Alvarez said, "I'm so proud."
To point out, it may have helped that the defending gold medalist team, Russia, who were allowed to compete as a neutral team at the Tokyo Games, were not allowed to participate this year in Paris.
