SMILES in place, nose clips on, music maestro, and the Russia synchronised swimming team were on the way to a sure defence of their Olympic crown. Then, suddenly, 17 seconds into the routine, with half the shoal of eight in the water and half still on the side about to take the plunge, the music died.
A halt was called and the Russians were asked to decide: start again now or later. “Now,” Maria Kiseleva, the captain, said. “It was a shock for us,” she added later, “but we said go again right away because the excitement and the nervousness helped us to do even better.”
Russian dancing was heard again and the routine produced five perfect tens and the gold medal on 49.834 points, only half a point ahead of Japan, with United States third. The bronze medal was shared by Tammy Crow, 27, whose problems put the Russian’s musical glitch in the shade. Last year, she was driving a car that crashed into trees on a snowy road in California. Her boyfriend, Cody Tatro, and a 12-year-old friend, Brett Slinger, died in the accident, and Crow was charged with “vehicular manslaughter”. When she returns home, she will serve a 90-day jail sentence.
Anna Kozlova, her US team-mate, last night said that the entire team would visit Crow in jail and that they were trying to raise funds to pay the legal costs of the case and the fine of $25,000 (about £14,000). “The whole team is going to support her,” Kozlova said. “I know it’s been the hardest time for her. We will be there to support her. She has brought good spirit to our team.”
Crow said: “I never escape how I feel and what I go through every day. Me and Cody made our lives together. Now I have nothing. I’m going home to that. It’s going to be an awesome adjustment. I certainly have taken everything in at these Games.”