Russian synchronized swimmers in the final of synchronized swimming team event at the Olympic Games, August 23, 2008. [Photo: Xinhuanet]

Russian synchronized swimmers proved their invincibility after sweeping two gold medals in duet and team competitions at the Beijing Games.

The eight-member Russian team entered the free routine final with a top-ranking score of 49.50 points from the technical routine. They carried the lead to a decisive win with a performance of unmatched precision and power to a music piece of "life of sea", scoring eight full marks to total 99.500 points.

The gold medal completes Russia's sweep in the sport after its duo Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova won the duet gold on Wednesday. The country has dominated the sport since the 2000 Sydney Games.

"We were striving for it together, to be higher than everybody. It was really difficult but we are all really happy," said Rusisan team coach Tatyana Pokrovskaya.

"We are so tired. Today was a peak. All this year to the Olympic Games we were climbing and climbing a mountain full of difficulties and finally we are here," said Olga Kuzhela, a Russian team member.

Spain took its second silver following Russia with 98.251 points, while China surpassed Athens silver medal winner Japan to win the bronze, recording 97.334 points.

Both China and Japan staged a dragon themed performance, but the Chinese stood out in the tussle outscoring Japan by one point. The bronze was the first synchronized swimming medal for China since it entered into the Olympic competition in 1988.

"The girls delivered their performance brilliantly. Our music (the Yellow River) was more powerful and the performance is more impressive than the Japanese team," Chinese coach Zheng Jia said.

Japan shared the fifth position with the United States, which started the competition with a routine themed "finding the light".

This was the first time that Japan dropped out of the top three in about 20 years, said the Japanese coach Masako Kaneko. "During the last part of the routine, the team became exhausted. The last part was the climax, but it went wrong and this was reflected in the score," she said.

"It was a painful experience for the coaches and athletes, but this was a good lesson and it taught them that winning a medal is never easy on the Olympic stage," she added.

Hiromi Kobayashi, a Japanese swimmer, suffered breathing difficulties while doing the routine. She was immediately attended by doctors and has returned to stable conditions.