Russians win synchro duet

Brusnikina and Kisseleva on their way to gold

The Russian pair of Olga Brusnikina and Maria Kisseleva claimed Olympic gold in the pool on Tuesday when they triumphed in the duet synchronised swimming.

The victory marked a major reversal of fortunes for the team, who were stripped of their European title after Kisseleva failed a drugs test in July.

They topped the standings with a score of 99.580 to win Russia's first Olympic medal in synchronised swimming.

Miho Takeda and Miya Tachibana of Japan secured second place with 98.650, while the bronze medal went to the French team of Virginie Dedieu and Myriam Lignot (97.437).

The Russian pair, whose free routine to a pounding drum beat was based on a karate theme, were on top throughout the two-day competition, which combined 35% of Sunday's technical programme and 65% of Tuesday's free routine final marks.

They were in a class of their own and received nine out of a possible 10 perfect 10 scores -- four for technical merit and all five for artistic impression.

Mitigating circumstances

Kisseleva was banned for one month when ephedrine was detected in a doping test she underwent in July - shortly after she and Brusnikina had won the European duet title for the third successive time.

Ephedrine usually carries a three-month suspension and that would have ruled Kisseleva out of the Olympics.

But she was given a lighter sentence, the Russian federation said, because she had unwittingly taken the substance in a supplement given to her by a doctor to control her weight.

Canadians Claire Carver-Dias and Fanny Letourneau, who finished fifth, performed the most bizarre offering of the competition.

Their routine was performed to the background of surreal music and was based on the theme of madness.

"It's really a journey through the mind of someone mad," Carver-Dias said.

"We start (with) more of a dark serious side and then there's the section where there's voices and we have a little bit of fear in our eyes and a bit of confusion and then it goes into the complete 'I've lost it but I'm enjoying it' sort of craziness."