Historic Iris Tió: gold medal and first solo Spanish world champion

Iris Tió is a legend in Spanish synchronized swimming. The Barcelona native has been crowned world champion in the freestyle solo event, becoming the first Spanish swimmer to win a gold medal in a solo event.

The top spot on the world podium, which even legendary athletes such as Ona Carbonell, Andrea Fuentes, and Gemma Mengual couldn't reach in the face of overwhelming Russian dominance, was claimed by Iris Tió, who also added her fourth medal at the World Championships in Singapore, thanks to the bronze in the technical team won hours later.

In the final, the Spaniard defeated China's Huyan Xu and Belarus's Vasilina Khandoshka, thus breaking the Asian country's tyranny over artistic swimming at these championships. Tió earned a score of 245.1913 , with a score of 112.9000 in artistic impression and 132.2913 in execution.

After winning three bronze medals in the technical solo, freestyle, and technical team events, the 22-year-old Catalan added her fourth medal, bringing the Spanish artistic swimming team's total to five, surpassing the four won last year in Doha.

" I'm on a cloud of emotions, crying, in shock . It's the first time Spain has won a world gold medal in solo competition and I can't believe it," an emotional Iris Tió told the Spanish Swimming Federation. "When China's score came out, I was amazed because the Chinese team is very good and the other team (Vasilina Khandoshka) also had a lot of difficulty. I'm very happy and proud, and I want to thank my coaches, because without them this wouldn't have been possible. We're the best team in the world , we're defending it tooth and nail in these World Championships, and we're receiving so much love from the people who follow us," she concluded.