Artistic touch

As a crucial contributor to Team China's impressive medal haul in Paris, the surging Chinese artistic swimming squad announced its arrival as a new powerhouse in the sport of beauty and synchronization by claiming its first and second Olympic gold medals in Paris, taking full advantage of the absence of a Russian team that had won every gold in the discipline since Sydney 2000.

Standing beside head coach Zhang Xiaohuan, former Spanish national team mentor Anna Tarres was a driving force behind the Chinese team's outstanding improvement, particularly in its artistic expression, musical direction and routine variety.

Tarres' methods, which prioritize the relentless pursuit of perfection through repetition and hard work, were well received and embraced by Zhang's team, who gave credit to the Spanish expert's input.

"We have really made huge improvements in expressing more emotion, adding more variety and using the music better," Zhang said of the program since Tarres joined her as an assistant in 2021.

As the Chinese delegation returns home adorned with medals and glory, Tarres, Dhers and Annan, as well as numerous other foreign coaches, such as South Korea's Kwon Yong-hak, who led the Chinese women's archery squad to challenge his home country in the team final, and Italian race walking coach Patrizio Antonio Parcesepe, who helped Yang Jiayu finally bag her long overdue Olympic gold in the women's 20km, deserve equal applause with their Chinese counterparts.