Putin congratulates national synchro mixed duo with gold of 2019 World Championship

MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his congratulations on Tuesday to a pair of national synchronized swimmers, Maya Gurbanberdiyeva and Alexander Maltsev, for winning the gold of the 2019 FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Championships in the Mixed Duet Technical Routine event. "I congratulate you with winning the gold medals of the World Championship," Putin state in his congratulatory message. "You have accomplished the set tasks with dignity." "Participating in the mixed duet competitions you have managed to achieve your maximum concentration, your high level of skills and your will for the victory," Putin said. "That’s the way to go!" The Russian duo of Maya Gurbanberdiyeva and Alexander Maltsev won gold on Monday in the Mixed Duet Technical Routine event at the 2019 FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Championships in South Korea’s Gwangju. The pair of the Russian synchronized swimmers were awarded by judges 92.0749 points for their program Tango and it earned them the gold. The duo Manila Flamini and Giorgio Minisini from Italy won the silver with 90.8511 points and Japanese synchronized swimmers Atsushi Abe and Yumi Adachi packed the bronze with 88.5113. At the previous FINA World Championships, hosted by Hungary’s Budapest in 2017, Maltsev, who was paired with Mikhaela Kalancha at that time, won the silver in the Mixed Duet Technical Routine. Gurbanberdiyeva, 20, is the two-time gold medalist of the 2018 European Championships as well as the two-time winner of the 2015 European Championships, while her current synchro swimming partner Maltsev, 24, is now the three-time FINA World Champion (2015, 2017, 2019) and the two-time silver medalist of the FINA World Championships (2015, 2017). Athletes of the Russian national swimming team are currently second with four gold and three silver medals in the overall medals standings of the 2019 FINA World Championships after leaders China (nine golds, two silver and one bronze medal) and ahead of 3rd place Ukraine (1 gold and two bronze). The 2019 FINA World Championship is hosted by the South Korean city of Gwangju between July 12 and 28. Read more