China and the United States were in the lead on Tuesday after the team free routine in artistic swimming at the Paris Olympics.
Russia, a long-time dominant force in the sport, is not competing in Paris due to the invasion of Ukraine, which has made the competition more open than usual.
China scored 712.4455 points on Tuesday, combining scores from the technical and free routines. The gold medal will be decided on Wednesday with the acrobatic routine.
The United States has 643.0255 points, followed by Spain with 633.6119 points and Japan with 627.9308 points.
Russia began its dominance at the 2000 Sydney Games, winning every Olympic gold since then in the sport formerly known as synchronized swimming — a total of 12 consecutive victories.
However, since starting its war on Ukraine, Russia has been largely excluded from international sports events. It has not entered an artistic swimming team in any major competition since the Tokyo Olympics.
For the first time at these Games, men were allowed to participate in the team event, but none of the 10 teams chose a male swimmer.
