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Twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi of China claim another artistic swimming gold at worlds

Feb 8, 2024 | 9:17 AM

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi added to their artistic swimming medal haul at the World Aquatics Championships with a narrow victory in the duet free routine on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Chinese stars claimed gold with 250.7729 points, edging another set of twins, Bregje and Noortje de Brouwer of the Netherlands, at 250.4979. The bronze went to Britain’s Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe with 247.2626.

Canadians Audrey Lamothe and Jacqueline Simoneau, both of Montreal, finished fifth with 239.0563. Simoneau won the women’s solo free title on Tuesday.

The Wang sisters have each won four gold medals in Doha. They also paired up to claim the top spot in duet technical routine, and were both members of the Chinese squad that claimed gold in team acrobatic and team technical.

Also Thursday, Australia edged Italy in a thrilling mixed 4×1,500-metre open water race at Doha Old Port. 

The winning team of Moesha Johnson, Chelsea Gubecka, Nicholas Sloman and Kyle Lee captured the gold in 1 hour, 3 minutes, 28 seconds — just 0.20 seconds ahead of the Italian squad.

In the hectic sprint to the finish, Lee moved up on Domenico Acerenza’s hip and shoulder before sliding inside and swiping the pad just ahead of the Italian swimmer.

The other members of the silver medal-winning team were Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Arianna Bridi and Domenico Acerenza. 

The Hungarian squad of Bettina Fábián, Mira Szimcsák, Dávid Betlehem and Kristóf Rasovszky settled for the bronze in 1:04:06.80.

The Canadian team of Emma Finlin, of Edmonton, Laila Oravsky, of Minesing, Ont., Eric Hedlin, of Victoria, and Hau-Li Fan, of Burnaby B.C., placed 10th in 1:07:03.40,

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

The Associated Press