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 ...

has been part of the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

program since the second games, in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

. A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

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 ...

has been the most successful country in men's tournament, while the

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 ...

is the only team to win multiple times at the women's tournament since its introduction.

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 ...

is the first and only country to win both the men's and women's water polo tournaments.

History

The history of

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 ...

as a

team sport A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing sports team, teams which compete to win or cooperate to entertain their audience. Team members act together towards a shared objective. This can be done in a numb ...

began in mid 19th century England and Scotland, where

water sports Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

were a feature of county fairs and festivals. Water polo has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

, except 1896. Women's water polo made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 2000.

Beginnings

Men's water polo was among the first team sports introduced at the modern Olympic Games in 1900. Seven

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an teams from four countries, including four from the host nation France, took part in the competition. The British team was the inaugural champion. At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, three club teams of seven players each entered. A German team tried to enter, but its entry was refused because the players did not play for the same club. The event took place in a pond in Forest Park, the location of both the Olympics and the World's Fair. Previously, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

and

International Swimming Federation FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

(FINA) considered the water polo event at the 1904 Olympics as a demonstration sport. However, in July 2021, after accepting the recommendation of Olympic historian Bill Mallon, the IOC recognized water polo along with several others as an official sport of the 1904 Olympic program. From 1908 to 1920, the

Great Britain men's national water polo team The Great Britain men's national water polo team is the representative for Great Britain in international men's water polo. The team has participated in eleven tournaments at the Summer Olympics, being the dominant team in the sport in the early ...

won three consecutive gold medals at the Olympics, becoming the first water polo team to have an Olympic

winning streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...

(winning three or more Olympic titles in a row).

Hungarian dominance

Hungary men's national water polo team The Hungary men's national water polo team represents Hungary in international men's water polo competitions and is controlled by the Hungarian Water Polo Association. It is considered the world's top power in the history of water polo, having wo ...

has participated in 22 of 27 Olympic tournaments, with fifteen Olympic medals (nine gold, three silver and three bronze). From 1928 to 1980, the Hungarians won twelve consecutive medals in water polo. Twenty years later, the team won three golds in a row between 2000 and 2008, becoming the second team to have an Olympic winning streak in water polo.

Blood in the Water match

The most famous water polo match in Olympic history often referred to as the ''

Blood in the Water match The "Blood in the Water" match ( hu, melbourne-i vérfürdő lit. ''Blood bath of Melbourne''; russian: Кровь в бассейне, Krov' v basseyne, Blood in the swimming pool) was a water polo match between Hungary men's national water pol ...

'', was a

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

semi-final match between Hungary and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, played in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 6 December 1956. As the athletes left for the games, the Hungarian revolution began, and the Soviet army crushed the uprising. The match was bloody and violent. The Hungarians defeated the Soviets 4–0 before the game was called off in the final minute to prevent angry Hungarians in the crowd reacting to Soviet player

Valentin Prokopov Valentin Prokopov (russian: Валенти́н Ива́нович Проко́пов, June 10, 1929 – before 2016) was a Russian water polo player who competed for the Soviet Union in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympic ...

punching Hungarian player

Ervin Zádor Ervin Zádor (June 7, 1934 – April 28, 2012) was a Hungarian water polo player and member of the Hungarian national team. Career At age 21, Ervin Zádor represented Hungary at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He played four match ...

. Pictures of Zádor's injuries were published around the world, leading to the "Blood in the Water" moniker. The Hungarians went on to win the Olympic gold medal by defeating

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

2–1 in the final.

Addition of women's program

Women's water polo became an Olympic sport at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. Six nations competed in the women's tournament with home team

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 ...

winning the gold medal over the

. From 2012 to 2021, the United States women's team won three consecutive gold medals at the Summer Olympics, becoming the first women's water polo team to have an Olympic winning streak.

Geography

Water polo is now popular in many countries around the world, notably Europe (particularly in Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia and

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 ...

, Brazil, Canada and the

. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, 51

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

s (NOCs) from six

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 sent their water polo teams to the Olympic Games. Men's water polo teams of European NOCs won all 27 official tournaments, while women's teams from Europe,

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

won all six gold medals. Water polo teams from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

have not won an Olympic medal yet.

Venues

For the

, there are 34 venues that have been or will be used for water polo. The

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

in Paris hosted the first water polo competitions at the

1900 Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

. The

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

in St. Louis hosted the water polo events for the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

. The first water polo venue not located on a river or a lake took place at the

1908 London Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. It was not until the

1920 Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

that a separate venue was created for the aquatic venues. The 1948 Games were the first Olympics in which water polo took place both indoors and in more than one venue. The first separate water polo venue that was not connected to other aquatic venues was at the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this hon ...

. The

Water Polo Arena The Water Polo Arena was a temporary sporting venue of the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. It was situated in the south-east corner of the Olympic Park, alongside the Aquatics Centre, and opposite the Olympi ...

of the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

was the first dedicated water polo venue to be built for an Olympics, the structure was taken down after the games. # Paris 1900:

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

# St. Louis 1904:

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

# London 1908:

White City Stadium White City Stadium was a stadium located in White City, London, England. Built for the 1908 Summer Olympics, it hosted the finish of the first modern marathon and other sports like swimming, speedway, boxing, show jumping, athletics, stock car ...

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football clu ...

# Stockholm 1912:

Djurgårdsbrunnsviken Djurgårdsbrunnsviken is a bay in central Stockholm, Sweden, together with the canal Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen forming the northern shore line of the island Djurgården (or more correctly between Northern and Southern Djurgården). The bridge Dju ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

# Antwerp 1920:

Stade Nautique d'Antwerp Stade Nautique d'Antwerp (Dutch:''Zwemstadion van Antwerpen'') was an aquatics venue located in Antwerp, Belgium. For the 1920 Summer Olympics, it hosted the diving, swimming, and water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive te ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

# Paris 1924:

Piscine des Tourelles The Piscine des Tourelles, sometimes listed as Le stade nautique des Tourelles, is an aquatics venue that was used to host the diving, swimming, water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between tw ...

# Amsterdam 1928:

Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium The Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium was a venue used for the diving, swimming, water polo, and the swimming portion of the modern pentathlon events for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

# Los Angeles 1932: Swimming Stadium,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

# Berlin 1936: Olympic Swimming Stadium,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

# London 1948: Empire Pool (final),

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

; and

Finchley Lido Finchley Lido is a leisure complex at , just east of the suburb of North Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet. Currently there is a swimming pool and leisure centre, cinema, several food restaurants, bowling facilities and large number of car ...

North Finchley North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Ba ...

# Helsinki 1952: Swimming Stadium,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

# Melbourne 1956: Swimming/Diving Stadium,

# Rome 1960:

Piscina delle Rose The Piscina delle Rose ( en, Roses Swimming Pool) is a sports venue located in Rome, Italy. It hosted the preliminaries for the water polo events at the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), offi ...

and

Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto The Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto (Olympic Swimming Stadium) is an aquatics centre at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. Inaugurated in 1959, it was designed by the architects Enrico Del Debbio and Aniballe Vitellozzi to host the swimming, diving, wat ...

(final), both in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

# Tokyo 1964:

Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool The Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool is an aquatics venue located in Tokyo. It hosted the water polo tournament during the 1964 Summer Olympics. It was constructed initially as the swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person ...

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 ...

# Mexico City 1968: Francisco Márquez Olympic Pool (final) and

University City Swimming Pool The University City Swimming Pool is located on the Ciudad Universitaria campus of UNAM in Mexico City. For the 1968 Summer Olympics, it hosted some of the water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams o ...

, both in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

# Munich 1972:

Dantebad Dantebad is an aquatics venue located in the greater Munich, Germany area. During the 1972 Summer Olympics, it hosted preliminaries for the water polo competition. The venue was considered as host for the swimming and diving competition when Mu ...

and Schwimmhalle (final), both in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

# Montreal 1976: Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard and

Olympic Pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cou ...

(final), both in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

# Moscow 1980: Swimming Pool - Moscow and Swimming Pool - Olimpiysky (final), both in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

# Los Angeles 1984:

Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool The Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool is an Aquatic sports, aquatics venue located on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The pool was constructed in 1975 and dedicated the following year to Raleigh Neal Runnels, the son of Pepp ...

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

# Seoul 1988:

Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool () is an aquatics venue located in Seoul, South Korea. It hosted the swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and the swimming part of the modern pentathlon events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The venue wa ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

# Barcelona 1992:

Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc The Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc ( en, Montjuïc Municipal Pool) is a sports venue situated in the Olympic Ring in Barcelona. The venue consists of two swimming pools: a pool for diving and a 25m outdoor pool. It hosted the diving events and th ...

and

Piscines Bernat Picornell Piscines Bernat Picornell ( en, Bernat Picornell Pools) is a swimming venue situated in the Olympic Ring in Montjuïc, Barcelona. The venue consists of three swimming pools: a 50m indoor pool, a 50m outdoor pool, and a pool for diving. It hosted ...

(final), both in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

# Atlanta 1996:

Georgia Tech Aquatic Center The Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center (abbreviated CRC, formerly known as the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center and the Georgia Tech Student Athletic Center) is part of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech campus. History Georgia Tec ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

# Sydney 2000:

Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre The Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre is an aquatics venue located in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. The original venue was demolished in November 1998 with rebuilding commencing in April 1999. Rebuilding was completed in April 2000 with opening in ...

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

; and

Sydney International Aquatic Centre The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) , formerly Sydney International Aquatic Centre (SIAC), is a swimming pool, swimming venue located in the Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1994, the SOPAC was a majo ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

# Athens 2004:

Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre The Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre is a complex at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, consisting of two outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that was built for the 1991 Mediterranean Games. It was refurbished and expanded for the 2004 Summer Olympics ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

# Beijing 2008:

Ying Tung Natatorium The Ying Tung Natatorium () is a swimming venue located in the Olympic Sports Centre in Beijing, China with a seating capacity of 4,852. It was upgraded for the 2008 Summer Olympics and expanded to 44,635 square metres. It hosted Olympic water ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

# London 2012:

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

# Rio de Janeiro 2016:

Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre The Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre ( pt, Parque Aquático Maria Lenk) is an aquatics centre that is part of the City of Sports Complex in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is part of the investments made by the city to host t ...

and

Olympic Aquatics Stadium The Olympic Aquatics Stadium ( pt, Estádio Aquático Olímpico) was a temporary aquatics center in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. The venue hosted the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics, swimming events, Synchronized swimming at t ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

# Tokyo 2020:

Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center is a swimming venue in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. The swimming centre has hosted several Japanese swimming championships. History The swimming complex was designed by the Environment Design Institute, a Tokyo architecture firm. It was commissione ...

Sources: * Official Reports (PDF): 1900–1996; * Official Results Books (PDF): 2000–2016; *

Olympedia Sports Reference, LLC, is an American company which operates several sports-related websites, including Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com for baseball, Basketball-Reference.com for basketball, Hockey-Reference.com for ice hockey, Pro- ...

: Water polo venues.

Events

;Notes: :The X indicates that the tournament was held as a full Olympic medal sport. :The

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

() denotes that it was contested as an unofficial sport.

Rules

Qualification

Since 2012, the qualifying process consists of five stages: # The team of the host nation qualifies automatically. # No more than one team qualifies as the top team in the

FINA World League FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

. # No more than three teams qualify as the top teams in the

World Aquatics Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ar ...

. # No more than five teams qualify as the continental Olympic qualification tournament champions. # No more than four teams qualify through a world qualifying tournament, in which the best teams which did not qualify directly from each continent compete for the remaining berths.

Players

Eligibility

According to the ''FINA General Rules'', the list below shows the requirements for a player to be eligible to play in international tournaments: * "GR 1.1: All competitors shall be registered with their National Federation to be eligible to compete." * "GR 2.5: When a competitor or competition official represents his/her country in a competition, he/she shall be a citizen, whether by birth or naturalisation, of the nation he/she represents, provided that a naturalised citizen shall have lived in that country for at least one year prior to that competition. Competitors, who have more than one nationality according to the laws of the respective nations must choose one 'Sport Nationality'. This choice shall be exercised by the first representation of the competitor for one of the countries." * "GR 2.6: Any competitor or competition official changing his sport nationality from one national governing body to another must have resided in the territory of and been under the jurisdiction of the latter for at least twelve months prior to his first representation for the country."

Competition format

For both the men's and women's tournaments at the 2020 Olympics (which was postponed to 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

), the competition consists of a round-robin group stage followed by a

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

stage. Teams are placed into two groups, with each team playing each other team in its group once. Teams earn 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The top four teams in each group advance to the knockout rounds. The knockout rounds are a single-elimination tournament consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and the gold and bronze medal matches. Matches consist of four quarters of eight minutes each. During the knockout rounds, if the score is tied after four quarters (32 minutes),

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

s, which is 5 rounds, plus extra rounds if tied, are used to determine the winner. Sources: * Official Reports (PDF): 1900–1996; * Official Results Books (PDF): 2000–2016; *

: 1900–2016; *

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC, is an American company which operates several sports-related websites, including Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com for baseball, Basketball-Reference.com for basketball, Hockey-Reference.com for ice hockey, Pro- ...

: 1900–2016.

Game rules

Maximum number of players per team

Sources: * Official Reports (PDF): 1900–1996; * Official Results Books (PDF): 2000–2016.

Anti-doping

The FINA follows the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

's (WADA) regulations on

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

. According to the WADA, a positive in-competition test results in disqualification of the player and a suspension that varies based on the number of offences. When a player tests positive, the rest of their team is subjected to testing; another positive test can result in a disqualification of the entire team.

Men's tournament

Results summary

Sources: * Official Reports (PDF): 1900–1996 (men's tournaments); * Official Results Books (PDF): 2000–2020 (men's tournaments); *

: 1900–2020 (men's tournaments); *

: 1900–2016 (men's tournaments).

Confederation statistics

Best performances by tournament

Team statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Finishes in the top four

Medal table

Champions (results, squads)

Champions (results) Champions (squads)

Team records

Player statistics

Multiple appearances (five-time Olympians)

Multiple medalists

Multiple gold medalists

Top goalscorers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Top goalscorers (one match) Top goalscorers (one tournament) Top goalscorers (all-time)

Top goalkeepers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Top goalkeepers (one match) Top goalkeepers (one tournament) Top goalkeepers (all-time)

Coach statistics

Most successful coaches

Medals as coach and player

Women's tournament

Results summary

Sources: * Official Results Books (PDF): 2000–2016 (women's tournaments); *

: 2000–2016 (women's tournaments); *

: 2000–2016 (women's tournaments).

Confederation statistics

Best performances by tournament

Team statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Finishes in the top four

Medal table

Champions (results, squads)

Champions (results) Champions (squads)

Team records

Player statistics

Multiple appearances (four-time Olympians)

Multiple medalists

Multiple gold medalists

Top goalscorers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Top goalscorers (one match) Top goalscorers (one tournament) Top goalscorers (all-time)

Top goalkeepers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Top goalkeepers (one match) Top goalkeepers (one tournament) Top goalkeepers (all-time)

Coach statistics

Most successful coaches

Medals as coach and player

Overall medal table

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), number of Olympic bronze medals (in descending order), name of the

NOC A network on a chip or network-on-chip (NoC or )This article uses the convention that "NoC" is pronounced . Therefore, it uses the convention "a" for the indefinite article corresponding to NoC ("a NoC"). Other sources may pronounce it as an ...

(in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 31 December 2021. Italy is the only country to win both the men's and women's water polo tournaments at the Summer Olympics. Italy men's national team won gold medals at the 1948, 1960 and 1992 Olympics, while the

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

was Olympic champions in 2004. ;Legend * NOC^◊ – NOC that won medals in both the men's and women's tournaments * ''NOC''^† – Defunct NOC

Winning two medals in one edition of the Games

As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, four

s won two medals in one edition of the Games. ;Legend * – Hosts

Water polo people at the opening and closing ceremonies

Flag bearers

Some sportspeople were chosen to carry the national flag of their country at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, thirty water polo people from six continents were given the honour. Among them, three flag bearers won the tournament with his/her team. Charles Smith, representing Great Britain, was the first water polo player to be a flag bearer at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics. Six-time Olympian

Manuel Estiarte Manel Estiarte Duocastella (born October 26, 1961 in Manresa) is a Spanish former water polo player born in Manresa, a municipality in Barcelona, Spain. He is currently a member of Pep Guardiola's technical staff at Manchester City FC. He is u ...

of Spain was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. After winning gold in the women's tournament,

Carmela Allucci Carmela Allucci (born 22 January 1970 in Naples) is a female water polo midfielder from Italy, who won the gold medal with the Women's National Team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Allucci was given the honour to carry the natio ...

, the captain of the Italian women's water polo team, carried the national flag of Italy at the closing ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics, becoming the first female water polo player to be given the honour. ;Legend * – Opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics * – Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics * – Hosts * – Female flag bearer * Flag bearer^‡ – Flag bearer who won the tournament with his/her team

Oath takers

Some sportspeople from the host nations were chosen to take the

Olympic Oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of al ...

at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, four water polo people were given the honour. As an athlete,

Victor Boin Victor Boin (28 February 1886 – 31 March 1974) was a Belgian freestyle swimmer, water polo player, and épée fencer who competed at the 1908, 1912 and 1920 Summer Olympics. Olympics Boin was part of the Belgian water polo teams that finish ...

of Belgium took the first ever Olympic Oath at the 1920 Games in Antwerp. Eugeni Asensio, a Spanish water polo

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

, took the Officials' Oath at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. As a water polo referee, Australian Peter Kerr took the Officials' Oath at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Asumi Tsuzaki is a Japanese water polo coach, sports official and former player. Tsuzaki took the Officials' Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, becoming the first female water polo referee to be given the honour. Duri ...

of Japan took the Officials' Oath at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, becoming the first female water polo referee to be given the honour. ;Legend * – Hosts * – Female oath taker * Oath taker^‡ – Oath taker who won the tournament with his/her team

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Official website
{{Sports at the Olympics

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Sports at the Summer Olympics

History

Beginnings

Hungarian dominance

Blood in the Water match

Addition of women's program

Geography

Venues

Events

Rules

Qualification

Players

Eligibility

Competition format

Game rules

Maximum number of players per team

Anti-doping

Men's tournament

Results summary

Confederation statistics

Best performances by tournament

Team statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Finishes in the top four

Medal table

Champions (results, squads)

Team records

Player statistics

Multiple appearances (five-time Olympians)

Multiple medalists

Multiple gold medalists

Top goalscorers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Top goalkeepers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Coach statistics

Most successful coaches

Medals as coach and player

Women's tournament

Results summary

Confederation statistics

Best performances by tournament

Team statistics

Comprehensive team results by tournament

Finishes in the top four

Medal table

Champions (results, squads)

Team records

Player statistics

Multiple appearances (four-time Olympians)

Multiple medalists

Multiple gold medalists

Top goalscorers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Top goalkeepers (one match, one tournament, all-time)

Coach statistics

Most successful coaches

Medals as coach and player

Overall medal table

Winning two medals in one edition of the Games

Water polo people at the opening and closing ceremonies

Flag bearers

Oath takers

See also

Notes

References

Sources

External links