On one side of the water polo pool at the Paris Olympics, a new champion was crowned. On the other, a former champion grew its dynasty.
In women’s water polo, Spain went unbeaten on the way to its first Olympic gold medal. The win was an upgrade from silver medals won in 2021 and 2008.
On the men’s side, Serbia bounced back from a rough start in Paris and ran all the way to its third straight gold medal.
Here’s a look at both tournaments...
MEN’S COMPETITION
Medalists
Gold – Serbia
Silver – Croatia
Bronze – USA
On the final day of the Olympics, Serbia did what only three men’s water polo teams have done in Olympic history. With a 13-11 win over Croatia, Serbia won its third straight Olympic gold medal.
Even though they came to this year’s Olympics as the two-time defending champs, Serbia was not expected to get back to the top in Paris. Since Tokyo, they finished ninth and eighth at two world championship. Their previous coach left, and Dusan Mandic — the team’s leading goal scorer in Paris — was briefly kicked off the team.
Even in pool play, Serbia did not look like the best team in Paris, but they got hot at the right time. They started the tournament playoffs with a 12-11 buzzer-beater win over Greece and followed with a 10-6 win over the U.S. in the semifinals to advance to the gold medal game.
This is the sixth men's water polo gold medal all-time for Serbia, and 14th total Olympic water polo medal.
Sunday’s was the seventh meeting between Croatia and Serbia in the last eight Olympics. Croatia was the last team before Serbia to win Olympic gold.
The other team on the podium in Paris was a new face. The U.S. won bronze for its first Olympic men’s water polo medal in 16 years.
Team USA finished pool play 3-2 and took the No. 3 spot out of Group A. From there, they defeated Australia in penalty shots in the quarterfinals, but fell to Serbia in the semis.
In the bronze medal game, USA keeper Adrian Weinberg made 16 saves — a fitting number given it had been 16 years since his team had won an Olympic medal.
Weinberg came up especially big in the fourth quarter. The U.S. went into the final frame up 6-5, but Hungary battled back to take an 8-6 lead with 3:22 remaining. It was the first time in the game either team led by multiple goals.
Alex Bowen and Hannes Daube both scored extra player goals to tie the score again and Weinberg made two saves in the final 90 seconds to force penalties.
In the shootout, Hungary’s first and third shots hit the post, and Weinberg saved the second. Daube, Max Irving, and Bowen all had makes in their penalty attempts to seal the win for the U.S.
The medal was the 10th all-time for the U.S. and fifth ever bronze.
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
Medalists
Gold - Spain
Silver - Australia
Bronze - The Netherlands
While Serbia cemented itself as a dynasty in men’s water polo, in the women’s tournament a dynasty fell.
For the first time since women’s water polo was introduced in 2000, the U.S. did not bring home a medal.
Team USA suffered back-to-back heartbreaking losses in the semifinals and bronze medal match. They fell to Australia in penalty shots in the semis. In their final game, The Netherlands’ Sabrina van der Sloot scored a game-winning goal with one second remaining that sent the U.S. home empty-handed.
With the win, the bronze is just the second women's water polo medal ever won by Netherlands, which had highest scoring women's water polo team in Paris, finishing with 99 goals in seven games.
The class of the field throughout the Paris tournament was Spain, and their perfect run ended with an 11-9 victory over Australia in the finals for the country’s first Olympic women’s water polo gold medal.
Four members of Spain's team this summer - Pili Pena, Anna Espar, Laura Ester, and Maica Garcia Godoy - were playing in their fourth Olympics and had two Olympic silver medals to their names. Even with that success, every player on the roster — the veterans and those making their debuts — came to Paris this summer looking for history. And not only did they win gold, they rolled the entire tournament. Spain was a perfect 7-0 in Paris, with a goal differential of +28. They scored 99 goals (14.1 per game) while allowing 71 (10.1 per game).
Australia took home silver, its fourth Olympic medal and first since 2012. It was historic because coach Bec Rippon became the first female coach ever to win a women's water polo Olympic medal.