History makers in the pool as Great Britain claim first artistic swimming medal
Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe take silver.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe claimed a first artistic swimming medal for Great Britain at the Olympics with silver in the women’s duet.
The pair lay outside the podium positions after Friday’s technical routine although a score of 264.0282 was less than a point off the Netherlands, who held third place overnight.
A barnstorming free routine was adjudged the best of the 17-strong field on Saturday and a score of 558.5367 points overall lifted Shortman and Thorpe above both Austria and the Netherlands.
However, their hopes of gold after a performance themed to Rising Phoenix were dashed by China, who claimed an artistic swimming double with victory by 7.9416 points.
Shortman and Thorpe edged out Dutch twin sisters Noortje and Bregje de Brouwer by the wafer-thin margin of 0.1404 points, with Austria in fourth.
The British duo, childhood friends whose mothers competed alongside one another, had high hopes of a historic medal after winning silver and bronze at the World Aquatics Championships earlier this year.
They were the only pairing which finished in the top-five who are not related.
China’s Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi and Ukraine’s Maryna Aleksiiva and Vladyslava Aleksiiva are twins, while Austria’s Anna-Maria Alexandri and Eirini-Marina Alexandri are part of a set of triplets.