Ioannis Fountoulis (also Giannis, el, Γιάννης Φουντούλης; born 25 May 1988) is a Greek

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

player. He is currently the captain of

Greece men's national water polo team The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation. Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, wit ...

, with whom he won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the 2015 World Championships, a bronze medal at the 2016 World League , 2020 World League and competed at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

. He played for the Greek powerhouse

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

since 2009, and in 2018 he won the

2017–18 LEN Champions League The 2017–18 LEN Champions League was the 55th edition of LEN's premier competition for men's water polo clubs. Overview Team allocation 12 teams are directly qualified for the Preliminary round (TH: Champions League title holders). Phases and ...

with the Greek giants, scoring 4 goals in the final game against

Pro Recco A.S.D. Pro Recco (Official name: Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Pro Recco) is an Italian water polo club from Recco, in Liguria. It currently plays in Serie A1. Pro Recco is the most successful club in men's water polo. In men's domestic ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

. Is a very big scorer and leader is considered one of the top players in the world and it is typical how in 2016 and 2018 he was voted as the second top player in the world. Currently playing for the Greek club

. Fountoulis was the top scorer of the 2017 World Championship with 23 goals and the top scorer of the 2018 European Championship with 17 goals (along with

Aleksandar Ivović Aleksandar Ivović, (born 24 February 1986) is a Montenegrin professional water polo player. He started his career at PVK Jadran, which is his first senior team to compete for. He was a member of the Montenegro men's national water polo team at ...

). He was voted in the All-Tournament Team of the 2015 World Championship as well as the All-Tournament Team of the 2017 World Championship. Fountoulis has been the top scorer of Greek Water Polo League six times (2012–2017, consecutive) playing for Olympiacos. He has been voted MVP of the

Greek Water Polo League The A1 Ethniki ( el, Α1 Εθνική Κατηγορία), often referred to as the Greek Water Polo League, is the highest professional water polo league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation. It is considered one of the top na ...

τhree times in 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2016–17 seasonsIoannis Fountoulis
nbcolympics.com and three times Greek Cup MVP in 2011, 2013 and 2018. As of June 2018, Fountoulis has scored 148 goals in

LEN Champions League The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of nam ...

, the most by any Greek player in the history of the top-tier European competition. Fountoulis was given the honour to carry the national flag of Greece at the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, becoming the 28th water polo player to be a

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

Honours

Club

Olympiacos *

: 2017–18 ; ''runners-up'': 2015–16, 2018–19 *

Greek Championship The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22 * Greek Cup: 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23 *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

: 2018 Ferencváros *

''runners-up'':

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

LEN Super Cup The LEN Super Cup is an annual water polo match organized by LEN and contested by the reigning champions of the two European club competitions, the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup. From 1976 to 2002, the LEN Super Cup was contested betwe ...

: 2019 * Hungarian Cup: 2019–20, 2020–21

National team

* Silver Medal in 2020 Olympic Games, Tokyo * Silver Medal in 2018 Mediterranean Games Tarragona * Bronze Medal in 2013 Mediterranean Games, Mersin * Bronze Medal in 2015 World Championship Kazan * Bronze Medal in 2006 World League Athens * Bronze Medal in 2016 World League Huizhou * Bronze Medal in 2020 World League Tbilisi * 4th place in 2016 European Championship Belgrade * 4th place in 2017 World Championship Budapest * 6th place in 2016 Olympic Games, Rio

Awards

* Top Scorer of the 2017 World Championship: 23 goals * Top Scorer of the 2018 European Championship: 17 goals * 2015 World Championship Team of the Tournament * 2017 World Championship Team of the Tournament * Greek Championship Top scorer: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 with

* All-time Greek Top Scorer in the

: 148 goals with

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

: 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17 with

* Greek Cup

: 2011, 2013, 2018 with

*Greek Water Polo Player of the Year: 2021 *Second Top European Player in the World by

LEN Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...

: 2016 *Third Top European Player in the World by

: 2018, 2021 *Member of the World Team 2018 by ''total-waterpolo''

References

External links