Dazzling performances are also expected in synchronized swimming, that odd combination of stamina and balletic grace.

CNN: Japan evens the odds

Bulgarians don't wait around much to see how their athletes do in Olympic figure-skating or tennis or synchronized swimming.

CNN: Don't drop wrestling from Olympics

"In synchronized swimming, it is more of a robotic movement, with very set positions, " says American Olympian Jones, who also is part of the "O" troupe.

WSJ: Social Media

Over at the Aquatics Center, scene of many U.S. swimming victories last week, Russia's graceful performers won the gold in the team synchronized swimming final, while China took silver and Spain bronze.

CNN: SHARE THIS

She was speaking Friday at the Council on Foreign Relations, where the moderator pointed out that Lagarde was once on France's synchronized swimming team, so she should know a thing or two about how to coordinate with others.

NPR: G-7 Leaders: We'll Tackle Crisis Together

In an effort to pull synchronized swimming from the shower-drain of sports obscurity, a revamped governing body has declared May "Synchro de Mayo, " a push to expose newcomers to the sport through performances and free lessons.

WSJ: Synchro de Mayo: A Struggling U.S. Sport Throws Itself a Party

But ahead of the London Games last summer, the U.S. failed to qualify as a team in the sport for the first time a low-water mark for a nation that dominated synchronized swimming from its glittery Olympic launch in 1984.

WSJ: Synchro de Mayo: A Struggling U.S. Sport Throws Itself a Party

The Chinese should collect three medals from the shooting range this weekend to go along with Yang's medal in swimming, a near-automatic gold in women's three-meter synchronized diving, as well as two of the three gold medals that will be awarded in weightlifting.

WSJ: Menu