Ukrainian sisters finish 5th in artistic swimming duet.

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Maryna and Vladyslava Aleksiiva, twin sisters representing Team Ukraine in artistic swimming, won fifth place in the duet final at the Paris Olympics on Aug.

10. The pair performed in the technical program on Aug.

9 and the free swimming program on Aug.

10, finishing fifth overall. The Aleksiiva sisters are Ukraine's only athletes competing in artistic swimming at the Paris Games.

Ukraine previously won a bronze medal in the event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, with  Anastasiia Savchuk and Marta Fiedina representing the national team. The Aleksiiva sisters scored a total of 538.6684 points in the Paris final. The gold medal went to China's Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi, with 566.4783 points.

Great Britain's Kate Shorman and Isabelle Thorpe took silver, while the Netherlands' Bregje and Noortje de Brouwer won the bronze medal. The Aleksiivas have described the difficulties of training for the Olympics during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Their training center is near a tank factory in Kharkiv frequently targeted by Russian attacks, the sisters told CNN.

"It really influenced our training in a bad way, both mentally and physically, the fact that we could not train like other countries in normal conditions," Maryna Aleksiiva said. Ukraine is currently ranked 21st in the Paris Olympics, with three gold medals, five silver, and four bronze.

Ukrainian athletes who will never have a chance to compete at the Olympics Audiences from across the world tuning into the Olympics kicking off with this Friday's opening ceremony in Paris should, as they enjoy the show, be conscious of why Ukraine will not be fully represented this summer - and at future athletic competitions.

Among the tens of thousands of Ukrainians ki...