Olympics-Artistic swimming-China maintain lead in team event, US move second

By Sheila Dang

PARIS (Reuters) - China stayed top of the leaderboard in team artistic swimming at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, extending their advantage over their rivals as the country eyes its first gold medal in the sport.

With the sport's dominant force Russia excluded from the Paris Games, China have high hopes of grabbing gold.

The Chinese team cheered and held each other in a group hug after receiving the highest score in the free routine, but appeared focused as their coach spoke to them.

The United States moved into the silver medal position after the free routine and are 69 points behind China, while Spain are third.

The Chinese women performed complex acrobatic lifts and the team achieved the highest score of the night for artistic impression.

The United States were in fourth place following the technical routine on Monday, but impressed judges in a performance with the theme "I am the Water".

Wearing teal blue swimsuits, the Americans performed moves that represented water, including ice, fountains, snow and waves.

France, who are in fifth place, drew loud and enthusiastic support from the home crowd.

The medals in team artistic swimming will be awarded on Wednesday following the acrobatic routine, which is being introduced for the first time in Paris.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Paris; Editing by Toby Davis)