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BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Marc-Antoine Olivier anchored France's mixed relay team to gold in the 5K open water swimming event Thursday at the world championships. Olivier, who had already won the men's 5K individual race and took bronze in the 10K, finished 12.2 seconds ahead of Jordan Wilimovsky of the United States, the silver medalist in the men's 10K. France won in 54 minutes, 5.9 seconds. "I like this new formula, since there are more tactics, and it is more exciting," American swimmer Haley Anderson said. "We were struggling a little bit at the relays but it was pretty much new for all." Mario Sanzullo anchored Italy to bronze, 25.1 seconds behind France. The format is new for the worlds. Each team must have two women and two men, racing in whichever order they prefer. Also, Svetlana Kolesnichenko claimed her fourth gold medal of the championships by winning the duet free routine in synchronized swimming with Alexandra Patskevich. It was Russia's fifth gold in six synchronized swimming finals this week. "All our attempts weren't in vain. We did everything we possibly could. We were training for 10-to-12 hours a day," Kolesnichenko said. The pair was awarded 97.0000 points for Russia's sixth gold in Budapest and its sixth win in six attempts in the event at the worlds. Chinese twins Jiang Tingting and Jiang Wenwen took silver, while Anna Voloshyna and Yelyzaveta Yakhno of Ukraine got bronze. Xie Siyi cruised to victory in men's 3-meter springboard later Thursday, giving the powerhouse Chinese team its sixth world title in Budapest. The 21-year-old Xie wasn't seriously challenged after teammate Cao Yuan, the gold medalist last summer in Rio, botched two straight dives. Assured of victory with his final plunge, Xie collapsed in the arms of his coach and wiped away tears with a towel. He finished with a score of 547.10 points. The silver went to Germany's Patrick Hausding (526.15), while Russia's Ilia Zakharov (505.90) took the bronze. Cao slipped all the way to 10th after posting the top score in the semifinals and leading through the first three rounds of the final.
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