Date:24/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/24/stories/2008082460631700.htm

Sport - Olympic Games

Russia keeps winning

BEIJING: Russia completed its third consecutive gold medal sweep in synchronised swimming on Saturday, in a team event marked by a Japanese competitor passing out on the pool deck.

Russia finished with a combined 99.500 points after the free routine. Spain took the silver with 98.251 points and China claimed the bronze with 97.334.

After Japan’s number concluded, two men in swimsuits jumped into the pool to assist Hiromi Kobayashi to the side of the pool. The other team members climbed out to await their scores, while Kobayashi clung to the pool’s edge.

Going limp

As Kobayashi was lifted out of the water, she buckled to her knees. Her body and head went limp as they carried her. She was wrapped in a white sheet and rushed away on a stretcher, attended to by several volunteers and medical personnel.

The woman hyperventilated because of stress, said Hiroshi Takeuchi, press officer for the Japanese team.

Japan finished fourth, Canada was fifth and the United States sixth. —AP