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Shortman and Thorpe, who are both from Bristol, have known each other since they were little and have been swimming together since the age of nine.<\/p>\n
Thorpe’s mum Karen competed alongside Shortman’s mother Maria in the 1980s and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Shortman told the BBC earlier this year that she and Thorpe hoped to “carry on the legacy” of their mothers in Paris.<\/p>\n
They have not only done that, but also made history.<\/p>\n
Britain’s previous best finish in artistic swimming – formerly synchronised swimming – was the fourth place achieved by Caroline Holmyard and Carolyn Wilson in Los Angeles in 1984, when the event made its Olympic debut.<\/p>\n
Their Olympic medal has been brewing for a while, having become the first Britons to win a duet medal at the World Championships earlier this year – where they took a silver and bronze.<\/p>\n
Their rise has been helped by an overhaul of the sport’s scoring system last year, which made it less subjective and played more to their technical strengths.<\/p>\n
There are now two judging panels, looking at the elements of a routine and artistic impression, while the pairs declare the difficulty of their routine themselves before swimming.<\/p>\n
The previous system had 15 judges who scored across every aspect.<\/p>\n
Shortman had considered quitting the sport before the change and the duo’s Rising Phoenix routine is a tribute to the scoring system change, which has now yielded the reward of an Olympic medal.<\/p>\n
They are not sure how they will celebrate the success yet, with Thorpe saying “it’s all very overwhelming” at the moment, although she has managed to hug her mum already.<\/p>\n
“Probably just stare at the medal, cry, touch the medal,” Shortman said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n