This article presents the national team appearances in the women's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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 ...

tournament since the inaugural official edition in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. As of 2016, Thirteen women's national water polo teams from five

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

s have competed at the Summer Olympics. Four teams have won all five tournaments. The inaugural winners in 2000 were

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

; the current champions are

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The most successful team is currently United States women's team, who has won the Olympic title on two occasions.

Abbreviations

Team statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Debut of teams

Last updated: 24 January 2021. ;Legend * Team^* – Host team

Number of appearances by team

Results of host teams

Last updated: 7 August 2021. ;Legend and abbreviation * Year^* – As host team * Finish^‡ – It is the best performance of the team * Apps – Appearances

Results of defending champions and runners-up

Last updated: 7 August 2021. ;Legend * Team^* – Host team

Best finishes by team

Finishes in the top four

Medal table

Longest active appearance droughts

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic tournaments missed (in descending order), year of the last appearance (in ascending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 7 August 2021. Notes: * Does not include teams that have not yet made their first appearance at the Olympics or teams that no longer exist. ;Legend * Year^* – As host team

Longest appearance droughts overall

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic tournaments missed (in descending order), year of the previous appearance (in ascending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 7 August 2021. Notes: * Only includes droughts begun after a team's first appearance and until the team ceased to exist. * With the exception of 1916, 1940 and 1944, does not include droughts when the Olympic tournament was not held due to World War I and II. ;Legend * Year^* – As host team * ''Team''^† – Defunct team

Team records

Teams having equal quantities in the tables below are ordered by the tournament the quantity was attained in (the teams that attained the quantity first are listed first). If the quantity was attained by more than one team in the same tournament, these teams are ordered alphabetically. Last updated: 7 August 2021. ;Legend * Year^* – As host team

Appearances

; Most appearances: 6,

(have participated in every tournament). ; Most appearances, never winning a title: 5,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

(has participated in every tournament). ; Most appearances, never finishing in the top two: 5,

(has participated in every tournament). ; Most appearances, never winning a medal: 4,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(2008^*, 2012, 2016, 2020). ; Most appearances, never finishing in the top four: 4,

(2008^*, 2012, 2016, 2020). ; Fewest appearances: 1,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

(2012^*),

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

(2016^*),

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(2020^*), ROC (2020),

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(2020). ; Fewest appearances, winning a title: 3,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(2008). ; Fewest appearances, finishing in the top two: 2,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

(2004^*). ; Fewest appearances, winning a medal: 2,

(2004^*). ; Fewest appearances, finishing in the top four: 2,

(2004^*).

Top four

; Most titles won: 3,

(2012, 2016, 2020). ; Most second-place finishes: 2,

(2000, 2008),

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(2012, 2020). ; Most third-place finishes: 2,

(2008, 2012),

(2000, 2016). ; Most fourth-place finishes: 3,

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

(2008, 2012, 2016). ; Most finishes in the top two: 5,

(2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020). ; Most finishes in the top two, never winning a title: 2,

(2012, 2020). ; Most finishes in the top three: 6,

(has been medaled in every tournament). ; Most finishes in the top three, never winning a title: 2,

(2000, 2016),

(2012, 2020). ; Most finishes in the top three, never finishing in the top two: 2,

(2000, 2016). ; Most finishes in the top four: 6,

(has finished in the top four in every tournament). ; Most finishes in the top four, never winning a title: 4,

(2008, 2012, 2016, 2020). ; Most finishes in the top four, never finishing in the top two: 4,

(2008, 2012, 2016, 2020). ; Most finishes in the top four, never winning a medal: 1, ROC (2020). ; Fewest finishes in the top two, winning a title: 1,

(2000^*),

(2008). ; Fewest finishes in the top three, winning a title: 1,

(2008). ; Fewest finishes in the top three, finishing in the top two: 1,

(2004^*),

(2008). ; Fewest finishes in the top four, winning a title: 2,

(2000, 2008),

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(2004, 2016). ; Fewest finishes in the top four, finishing in the top two: 1,

(2004^*). ; Fewest finishes in the top four, winning a medal: 1,

(2004^*).

Consecutive

; Most consecutive titles won: 3,

(2012–2016–2020). ; Most consecutive second-place finishes: None. ; Most consecutive third-place finishes: 2,

(2008–2012). ; Most consecutive fourth-place finishes: 3,

(2008–2012–2016). ; Most consecutive finishes in the top two: 4,

(2008–2012–2016–2020). ; Most consecutive finishes in the top three: 6,

(has been medaled in every tournament). ; Most consecutive finishes in the top four: 6,

(has finished in the top four in every tournament). ; Most consecutive appearances: 6,

(have participated in every tournament). ; Biggest improvement in position in consecutive tournaments: Did not participate/qualify, then won the title,

(2000–2004),

(2004–2008).

Gaps

; Longest gap between successive titles: None. ; Longest gap between successive second-place finishes: 9 years,

(2012, 2020). ; Longest gap between successive third-place finishes: 16 years,

(2000, 2016). ; Longest gap between successive fourth-place finishes: None. ; Longest gap between successive appearances in the top two: 12 years,

(2004–2016). ; Longest gap between successive appearances in the top three: 16 years,

(2000–2016). ; Longest gap between successive appearances in the top four: 16 years,

(2000–2016). ; Longest gap between successive appearances: 17 years,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(2004–2020).

Debuting teams

; Best finish by a debuting team: Champions,

(2000^*),

(2004). ; Worst finish by a debuting team: 10th position (last position),

(2020).

Host teams

; Best finish by host team: Champions:

(2000^*). ; Worst finish by host team: 9th position,

(2020^*). ; Best finish by last host team: 4th position,

(2004). ; Worst finish by last host team: Did not participate/qualify,

(2016),

(2020). ; Worst finish by last host team that participates in the tournament: 8th position (last position),

(2008). ; Had its best performance as hosts: Champions,

(2000^*).
Runners-up,

(2004^*).
5th position,

(2008^*).
8th position,

(2012^*),

(2016^*).
9th position,

(2020^*). ; Had its worst performance as hosts: 8th position,

(2012^*),

(2016^*).
9th position,

(2020^*).

Defending champions

; Best finish by defending champions: Champions,

(2016, 2020). ; Worst finish by defending champions: Did not participate/qualify,

(2012). ; Worst finish by defending champions that participates in the next tournament: 6th position,

(2008).

Defending runners-up

; Best finish by defending runners-up: Champions,

(2012). ; Worst finish by defending runners-up: Did not participate/qualify,

(2020). ; Worst finish by defending runners-up that participates in the next tournament: 8th position (last position),

(2008).

Population

; Most populous country, participant:

(2020), 1,411,099,000 ( source) ; Least populous country, participant:

(2020), 9,750,000 ( source) ; Most populous country, hosts:

(2008^*), 1,324,655,000 ( source) ; Least populous country, hosts:

(2004^*), 10,955,000 ( source) ; Most populous country, champions:

(2020), 331,449,000 ( source) ; Least populous country, champions:

(2008), 16,446,000 ( source) ; Most populous country, runners-up:

(2008), 304,375,000 ( source) ; Least populous country, runners-up:

(2004^*), 10,955,000 ( source) ; Most populous country, third place:

(2004), 293,046,000 ( source) ; Least populous country, third place:

(2020), 9,750,000 ( source) ; Most populous country, fourth place:

(2004), 19,895,000 ( source) ; Least populous country, fourth place:

(2016), 9,830,485 ( source)

Confederation statistics

Number of teams by confederation

This is a summary of the total number of participating teams by confederation in each tournament. Last updated: 7 August 2021. ;Legend * – Forthcoming tournament

Best performances by tournament

All-time best performances

References

Sources

External links

Olympic water polo – Official website
{{Water polo records and statistics National teams, Women

Abbreviations

Team statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Debut of teams

Number of appearances by team

Results of host teams

Results of defending champions and runners-up

Best finishes by team

Finishes in the top four

Medal table

Longest active appearance droughts

Longest appearance droughts overall

Team records

Appearances

Top four

Consecutive

Gaps

Debuting teams

Host teams

Defending champions

Defending runners-up

Population

Confederation statistics

Number of teams by confederation

Best performances by tournament

All-time best performances

See also

References

Sources

External links