Olympics Water Polo

Water polo has been part of the Summer Olympics program since the second games, in 1900. A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Hungary, Italy and Great Britain have dominated this sport, with the former having won as many gold medals as the other two combined.

Olympics History

Water polo at the 1980 Summer Olympics:

Water polo at the 1980 Summer Olympics as usual was a part of the swimming sport; other two parts were swimming and diving. They were not three separate sports, because they all were governed by one federation FINA. Water Polo discipline consisted of one event: men's team. In the preliminary round 12 teams were divided into four groups. Two best teams from each group advanced to Group A of the final round to determine places 1 through 6. The rest of teams played in Group B of the final round to determine places 7 through 12.

Water polo at the 1984 Summer Olympics:

Water polo at the 1984 Summer Olympics as usual was part of the swimming sport, the other two being swimming and diving. They were not seen as three separate sports, because they all were governed by one federation FINA. Water polo discipline consisted of one event: the men's team competition. In the beginning round twelve teams were divided into four groups. Two best teams from each group advanced to Group A of the final round to determine places 1 through 6. The rest of teams played in Group B of the final round to determine places 7 through 12.

Water polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics:

The water polo competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia saw Hungary’s return to the gold medal platform and the introduction of the women’s tournament. The Australian women had lobbied the IOC hard for the inclusion of women’s water polo in the Olympics, including showing up at the airport dressed only in their swimsuits during one pre-Olympic visit by members of the IOC.

Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics:

Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at the Olympic Aquatic Centre where women competed for only the second time in the event at the Summer Olympics. Twelve teams battled it out for the gold medal in the men's event, where Russia was trying to avenge their defeat by Hungary at the Sydney Olympics. There were eight teams in the women's event where holders Australia were hoping to retain the title. Twelve nations competed in the men’s tournament and played a total of 48 matches. Spain was unable to follow up their 1996 gold medal performance with a medal. Hungary defeated Russia for the gold medal.