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Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold Wednesday with 99.334 points. Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda of Japan took silver with 98.417.
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Together from start to finish, even to their happy waves afterward, Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova got what they wanted: an Olympic medal in synchronized swimming.
Not gold or even silver; those went to much more experienced Russia and Japan. But bronze in the duet final was the realistic goal of the young American pair, together just three years, and it was enough to avenge the medals shutout in Sydney in 2000.
"It's incredible," Bartosik said. "It's our first medal together."
Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova of Russia won the gold Wednesday with 99.334 points. Miya Tachibana and Miho Takeda of Japan took silver with 98.417.
Bartosik and Kozlova totaled 96.918 points for their tribute to Greek mythology that evoked a Medusa theme. They had snakes on their sequined green, gold and white suits and headpieces.
They created serpent images by intertwining their legs and arms in the water while the music "Gorky Park" and three other dramatic compositions blared on the loudspeakers.
"We tried to emote and not just swim the technical part of our program," Kozlova said.
The Americans climbed out of the outdoor pool to await their scores, then gave synchronized waves to the sellout crowd as a fan shouted, "Way to go, USA!"
"It's all about the little details and getting things right. We did that," Bartosik said. "We're very happy."
Bartosik and Kozlova received technical marks of mostly 9.8 and 9.7, and their artistic scores were no higher than 9.8.
"I saw two tiny little things," U.S. coach Chris Carver said, "but compared to what we were seeing from the rest of the field, I thought they were more flawless than most of them. They got very high and extended."
The red-sequined Russians scissor-kicked their way through a lively routine to "Don Quixote," popping out of the water at exactly the same time.
"It has not sunk in yet that we're the gold medalists," Davydova said. "All those years of preparation and it's over in a flash."
Davydova and Ermakova held up the red, white and blue Russian flag as their scores flashed on the board: three 10.0 marks for technical merit from the U.S., Ukraine and Swiss judges, and 10.0 marks from all five judges for artistic merit.
"We've been preparing for this for 15 years," Ermakova said. "We're both 21, so imagine what a chunk that is out of our lives. It's a great joy to win the Olympic medal."
The Japanese duo, who have been competing together for eight years, jumped into the water, landing nearly on all fours, instead of the usual entry dive.
"The coach told us we did a good job," Tachibana said. "That was a very happy moment for me."
Russia, Japan and the United States were the top three teams after the preliminary technical and free routines, and nothing changed in the final.
Spain was fourth all the way through, too. The Greek duo finished ninth among 12 teams.
Synchronized swimming is a judged sport, where marks often seem like they're based on a country's reputation as much as they are on what happens in the pool. It can take years for lightly regarded nations to move up in the rankings.
"It's always a slow process," Carver said. "This is another big step. Next time around, maybe we'll be a little higher."
The Americans knew it would be nearly impossible to surpass the Russians and Japanese in Athens, so they set their sights on a bronze medal. Kozlova, of San Jose, Calif., and Bartosik, of Santa Clara, Calif., have been fourth at most international competitions since they teamed up three years ago.
"A lot of it is actually feeling you can get there, not feeling like you're the underdog," Kozlova said. "I think this will really encourage the young swimmers a lot. They know there's a chance to break through."
The United States bounced back from Sydney, where they failed to win a medal for the first time since the sport was added to the Olympics in 1984.
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