Water polo at the Summer Olympics

Water polo at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	FINA
Events	2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Games
	1896; 1900; 1904; 1908; 1912; 1920; 1924; 1928; 1932; 1936; 1948; 1952; 1956; 1960; 1964; 1968; 1972; 1976; 1980; 1984; 1988; 1992; 1996; 2000; 2004; 2008; 2012; 2016; 2020; Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics
	Medalists;
	Winners (men • women); Records and statistics (men • women); Venues

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 has been the most successful country in men's tournament, while the United States is the only team to win multiple times at the women's tournament since its introduction. Italy is the first and only country to win both the men's and women's water polo tournaments.

Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics

History

The history of water polo as a team sport began in mid 19th century England and Scotland, where water sports were a feature of county fairs and festivals.[1][2] Water polo has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition sport, except 1896. Women's water polo made its debut in the Summer Olympics in 2000.

Beginnings

Water polo final at the 1908 London Olympics

Men's water polo was among the first team sports introduced at the modern Olympic games in 1900. Seven European 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, but only American contestants participated. Currently International Olympic Committee (IOC) consider water polo event as part of unofficial program in 1904.

From 1908 to 1920, the British water polo team won three consecutive gold medals at the Olympics, becoming the first team to have an Olympic winning streak in water polo.

Hungary dominance

Hungary men's national water polo team 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 gold in a row between 2000 and 2008, becoming the second water polo team to have an Olympic winning streak.

Blood in the Water match

The most famous water polo match in Olympic history often refers to as the Blood in the Water match, was a 1956 Summer Olympics semi-final match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, played in Melbourne 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 punching Hungarian player Ervin Zador. Pictures of Zádor's injuries were published around the world, leading to the "Blood in the Water" moniker.[3]

The Hungarians went on to win the Olympic gold medal by defeating Yugoslavia 2–1 in the final.

Addition of women's program

Women's water polo became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Six nations competed in the women's tournament with home team Australia winning the gold medal over the United States.

From 2000 to 2016, the United States women's team won five consecutive medals in water polo.

Geography

Water polo is now popular in many countries around the world, notably Europe (particularly in Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Spain), Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States.

As of 2016, 51 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) from six continents have sent their water polo teams to the Summer Olympics. Men's water polo teams of ten European NOCs won all 26 official tournaments, while women's teams from Europe, North America and Oceania won all five gold medals. Water polo teams from Africa, Asia and South America have not won an Olympic medal yet.

Venues

Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center will be used at the 2020 Olympics in water polo.

For the Summer Olympics, there are 34 venues that have been or will be used for water polo.

The Seine in Paris hosted the first water polo competitions at the 1900 Olympics. The Forest Park in St. Louis hosted the water polo events for the 1904 Summer Olympics.

The first water polo venue not located on a river or a lake took place at the 1908 London Olympics. It was not until the 1920 Olympics that a separate venue was created for the aquatic venues. The 1948 Games was the first Olympics in water polo took place both indoor 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 Water Polo Arena of the 2012 London Olympics was the first dedicated water polo venue to be built for an Olympics, the structure was taken down after the games.

Paris 1900: Seine, Paris
St. Louis 1904: Forest Park, St. Louis
London 1908: White City Stadium, White City
Stockholm 1912: Djurgårdsbrunnsviken, Stockholm
Antwerp 1920: Stade Nautique d'Antwerp, Antwerp
Paris 1924: Piscine des Tourelles, Paris
Amsterdam 1928: Olympic Sports Park Swim Stadium, Amsterdam
Los Angeles 1932: Swimming Stadium, Los Angeles
Berlin 1936: Olympic Swimming Stadium, Berlin
London 1948: Empire Pool (final), Wembley; and Finchley Lido, North Finchley
Helsinki 1952: Swimming Stadium, Helsinki
Melbourne 1956: Swimming/Diving Stadium, Melbourne
Rome 1960: Piscina delle Rose and Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto (final), both in Rome
Tokyo 1964: Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool, Tokyo
Mexico City 1968: Francisco Márquez Olympic Pool (final) and University City Swimming Pool, both in Mexico City
Munich 1972: Dantebad and Schwimmhalle (final), both in Munich
Montreal 1976: Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard and Olympic Pool (final), both in Montreal
Moscow 1980: Swimming Pool - Moscow and Swimming Pool - Olimpiysky (final), both in Moscow
Los Angeles 1984: Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, Malibu, California
Seoul 1988: Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool, Seoul
Barcelona 1992: Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc and Piscines Bernat Picornell (final), both in Badalona
Atlanta 1996: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, Atlanta
Sydney 2000: Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre, Ryde; and Sydney International Aquatic Centre, Sydney
Athens 2004: Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre, Athens
Beijing 2008: Ying Tung Natatorium, Beijing
London 2012: Water Polo Arena, London
Rio de Janeiro 2016: Maria Lenk Aquatic Center and Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
Tokyo 2020: Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center, Tokyo

Source: Official Reports; Official Results Books.

Events

Notes: The X indicates that the tournament was held on the appropriate olympic game; The bullet (•) denotes that it was contested as a demonstration sport.

Event	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	Games
Men's tournament		X	•	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	27
Women's tournament																								X	X	X	X	X	X	6

Total	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2

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.
No more than three teams qualify as the top teams in the World Aquatics Championships.
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.

**Men's qualification**
Stage	Zone	Tournament	Berths
Stage	Zone	Tournament	2012	2016	2020
1	—	Host nation	1 (from Europe)	1 (from Americas)	1 (from Asia)
2	World – FINA	FINA Water Polo World League	1	1	1
3	World – FINA	World Aquatics Championships	3	2	2
4	Africa – CANA	African Continental Selection	0	0	1
	Americas – ASUA	Pan American Games	1	1	1
	Asia – AASF	Asian Water Polo Championship	1	1	1
	Europe – LEN	European Water Polo Championship	0	1	1
	Oceania – OSA	Oceanian Continental Selection	1	1	1
5	World – FINA	World Qualification Tournament	4	4	3
Total			12	12	12

**Women's qualification**
Stage	Zone	Tournament	Berths
Stage	Zone	Tournament	2012	2016	2020
1	—	Host nation	1 (from Europe)	1 (from Americas)	1 (from Asia)
2	World – FINA	FINA Water Polo World League	0	0	1
3	World – FINA	World Aquatics Championships	0	0	1
4	Africa – CANA	African Continental Selection	0	0	1
	Americas – ASUA	Pan American Games	1	0	1
	Asia – AASF	Asian Water Polo Championship	1	1	1
	Europe – LEN	European Water Polo Championship	0	1	1
	Oceania – OSA	Oceanian Continental Selection	1	1	1
5	World – FINA	World Qualification Tournament	4	4	2
Total			8	8	10

Players

Eligibility

According to the FINA General Rules[4], 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, the competition consists of a round-robin group stage followed by a knockout 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 shootouts, which is 5 rounds, plus extra rounds if tied, are used to determine the winner.

**Men's tournament**
#	Year	Dates	Number of		Competition format
#	Year	Dates	Teams	Matches	Competition format
1	1900	11–12 August	7 teams	6 matches	Single-elimination tournament
2	1904	5–6 September	3 teams	2 matches
3	1908	15–22 July	4 teams	4 matches
4	1912	7–16 July	6 teams	10 matches
5	1920	22–29 August	12 teams	19 matches	Single-elimination tournament; Bergvall system for second- and third-place
6	1924	13–20 July	13 teams	19 matches
7	1928	4–11 August	14 teams	18 matches	Single-elimination tournament; Bergvall system for third-place
8	1932	4–13 August	5 teams	8 matches[lower-alpha 1]	Round-robin tournament
9	1936	8–15 August	16 teams	40 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin semi-final pool; round-robin semi-final pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
10	1948	28 July – 7 August	18 teams	40 matches[lower-alpha 2]	Series of round-robin elimination pools, followed by round-robin semi-final pools, and then round-robin final pools
11	1952	25 July – 2 August	21 teams	56 matches[lower-alpha 3]	Single-elimination tournament qualifying; round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin semi-final pool; round-robin semi-final pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
12	1956	28 November – 7 December	10 teams	29 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
13	1960	25 August – 3 September	16 teams	40 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin semi-final pool; round-robin semi-final pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
14	1964	11–18 October	13 teams	31 matches
15	1968	14–26 October	15 teams	63 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
16	1972	27 August – 4 September	16 teams	59 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to the round-robin final pool
17	1976	18–27 July	12 teams	48 matches
18	1980	20–29 July	12 teams	48 matches
19	1984	1–10 August	12 teams	42 matches
20	1988	21 September – 1 October	12 teams	42 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
21	1992	1–9 August	12 teams	42 matches
22	1996	20–28 July	12 teams	48 matches
23	2000	23 September – 1 October	12 teams	48 matches
24	2004	15-29 August	12 teams	44 matches
25	2008	10–24 August	12 teams	44 matches
26	2012	29 July – 12 August	12 teams	42 matches
27	2016	6–20 August	12 teams	42 matches
28	2020		12 teams
#	Year	Dates	Teams	Matches	Competition format
#	Year	Dates	Number of		Competition format

**Women's tournament**
#	Year	Dates	Number of		Competition format
#	Year	Dates	Teams	Matches	Competition format
1	2000	16–23 September	6 teams	20 matches	Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
2	2004	16–26 August	8 teams	20 matches
3	2008	11–21 August	8 teams	20 matches
4	2012	30 July – 9 August	8 teams	24 matches
5	2016	9–19 August	8 teams	24 matches
6	2020		10 teams

Source: Official Reports; Official Results Books; Olympedia website; Sports Reference website.

Game rules

Maximum number of players per team

**Men's tournament**
	Maximum number of players
	1900–1904	1908–1980	1984–2016	2020–
In the playing area of the pool during an Olympic match	7	7	7	7
During an Olympic match	11	11	13	12[5]
During an Olympic tournament	11	11	13	13[5]
	per club	per nation	per nation	per nation

**Women's tournament**
	Maximum number of players
	2000–2016	2020–
In the playing area of the pool during an Olympic match	7	7
During an Olympic match	13	12[5]
During an Olympic tournament	13	13[5]
	per nation	per nation

Source: Official Reports; Official Results Books.

Anti-doping

The FINA follows the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) regulations on performance-enhancing drugs. 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.[6][7][8][9]

Men's tournaments

Results summary

#	Year[10]	Hosts	Gold medal game			Bronze medal game			Number of teams
#	Year[10]	Hosts	Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	4th place	Number of teams
1	1900 Details	Paris	Great Britain (Osborne Swimming Club)	7–2	Belgium (Brussels Swimming and Water Polo Club)	France (Libellule de Paris) France (Pupilles de Neptune de Lille #2)	[lower-alpha 4]		7
2	1904 Details	St. Louis	Water polo was a demonstration sport			Water polo was a demonstration sport
3	1908 Details	London	Great Britain	9–2[lower-alpha 5]	Belgium	Sweden	[lower-alpha 6]	Netherlands	4
4	1912 Details	Stockholm	Great Britain	8–0	Sweden	Belgium	5–4	Austria	6
5	1920 Details	Antwerp	Great Britain	3–2	Belgium	Sweden	5–0	United States	12
6	1924 Details	Paris	France	3–0	Belgium	United States	3–2	Sweden	13
7	1928 Details	Amsterdam	Germany	5–2	Hungary	France	8–1	Great Britain	14
8	1932 Details	Los Angeles	Hungary	Round-robin	Germany	United States	Round-robin	Japan	5
9	1936 Details	Berlin	Hungary	Round-robin	Germany	Belgium	Round-robin	France	16
10	1948 Details	London	Italy	Round-robin	Hungary	Netherlands	Round-robin	Belgium	18
11	1952 Details	Helsinki	Hungary	Round-robin	Yugoslavia	Italy	Round-robin	United States	21
12	1956 Details	Melbourne	Hungary	Round-robin	Yugoslavia	Soviet Union	Round-robin	Italy	10
13	1960 Details	Rome	Italy	Round-robin	Soviet Union	Hungary	Round-robin	Yugoslavia	16
14	1964 Details	Tokyo	Hungary	Round-robin	Yugoslavia	Soviet Union	Round-robin	Italy	13
15	1968 Details	Mexico City	Yugoslavia	13–11 (aet)	Soviet Union	Hungary	9–4	Italy	15
16	1972 Details	Munich	Soviet Union	Round-robin	Hungary	United States	Round-robin	West Germany	16
17	1976 Details	Montreal	Hungary	Round-robin	Italy	Netherlands	Round-robin	Romania	12
18	1980 Details	Moscow	Soviet Union	Round-robin	Yugoslavia	Hungary	Round-robin	Spain	12
19	1984 Details	Los Angeles	Yugoslavia	Round-robin	United States	West Germany	Round-robin	Spain	12
20	1988 Details	Seoul	Yugoslavia	9–7 (aet)	United States	Soviet Union	14–13	West Germany	12
21	1992 Details	Barcelona	Italy	9–8 (aet)	Spain	Unified Team	8–4	United States	12
22	1996 Details	Atlanta	Spain	7–5	Croatia	Italy	20–18 (aet)	Hungary	12
23	2000 Details	Sydney	Hungary	13–6	Russia	FR Yugoslavia[lower-alpha 7]	8–3	Spain	12
24	2004 Details	Athens	Hungary	8–7	Serbia and Montenegro	Russia	6–5	Greece	12
25	2008 Details	Beijing	Hungary	14–10	United States	Serbia	6–4	Montenegro	12
26	2012 Details	London	Croatia	8–6	Italy	Serbia	12–11	Montenegro	12
27	2016 Details	Rio	Serbia	11–7	Croatia	Italy	12–10	Montenegro	12
28	2020 Details	Tokyo							12
#	Year	Hosts	Gold	Score	Silver	Bronze	Score	4th place	Number of teams
#	Year	Hosts	Gold medal game			Bronze medal game			Number of teams

Confederation statistics

Best performances by tournament

This is a summary of the best performances of each confederation in each tournament.[10]

Note: italic number in header means demonstration tournament was held.

Legend

1^st – Winners
2^nd – Runners-up
3^th – Third place
4^th – Fourth place
Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament

Confederation	00	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20
Africa – CANA	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7^th	10^th	—	9^th	12^th	15^th	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	12^th	—	—	—	Q
Americas – ASUA	—	—	—	4^th	3^rd	7^th	3^rd	9^th	10^th	4^th	5^th	7^th	9^th	5^th	3^rd	7^th	5^th	2^nd	2^nd	4^th	7^th	6^th	7^th	2^nd	8^th	10^th	Q
Asia – AASF	—	—	—	—	—	—	4^th	14^th	12^th	21^st	10^th	14^th	11^th	12^th	15^th	12^th	—	9^th	11^th	—	—	9^th	11^th	12^th	11^th	12^th	Q
Europe – LEN	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	1^st	Q
Oceania – OSA	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	18^th	19^th	9^th	15^th	10^th	—	12^th	11^th	7^th	5^th	8^th	5^th	—	8^th	9^th	8^th	7^th	9^th	Q
Nations	4	4	6	12	13	14	5	16	18	21	10	16	13	15	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Team statistics

Participating teams

Note: Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games; italic number in header means demonstration tournament was held.

Legend

1 – Winners
2 – Runners-up
3 – Third place
4 – Fourth place
– Disqualified
– Hosts
= – More than one team tied for that rank
Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
^† – Defunct team

Team[10]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
Africa – CANA (2 teams)
Egypt										7	10		13	12	15									12					6
South Africa											14		9															Q	2
Americas – ASUA (8 teams)
Team[10]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
Argentina							13			10	16		11																4
Brazil					6			[lower-alpha 1]			9		12	13	13				12								8		8
Canada																16	9		10						11				4
Chile										17																			1
Cuba															8	9	7	5			8								5
Mexico											18				11	13	10												4
United States					4	3	7	3	9	11	4	5	7	9	5	3			2	2	4	7	6	7	2	8	10	Q	21
Uruguay									13	16																			2
Asia – AASF (7 teams)
Team[10]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
China																			9	11					12				3
India										12	21																		2
Iran																	12												1
Japan								4	14				14	11	12	15			11								12	Q	8
Kazakhstan																							9	11		11		Q	3
Singapore												10																	1
South Korea																				12									1
Europe – LEN (33 teams)
Team[10]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
Austria				4					7		13																		3
Belgium	2		2	3	2	2	6		3	4	6		16	7															11
Bulgaria																11		12											2
Croatia																						2	7	10	6	1	2		6
Czechoslovakia^†					12	6	10		11												12	Defunct							5
East Germany^†															6						Merged with West Germany^†								1
France	3[lower-alpha 4]			6	9	1	3		4	6			10							10	11						11		11
Germany	=5						1	2	2		See East Germany^† and West Germany^†										7	9		5	10				8
Great Britain	1		1	1	1	8	4		8	13	12	7														12			11
Greece					8	13				15					14	14		10	8	9	10	6	10	4	7	9	6		15
Hungary				5		5	2	1	1	2	1	1	3	1	3	2	1	3		5	6	4	1	1	1	5	5	Q	22
Team	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
Iceland									15																				1
Ireland						9	14																						2
Italy					10	11				1	3	4	1	4	4	6	2	8	7	7	1	3	5	8	9	2	3	Q	20
Luxembourg							11																						1
Malta							8		16																				2
Montenegro																									4	4	4		3
Netherlands			4		5	7	5		5	3	5		8	8	7	7	3	6	6		9	10	11						17
Portugal											20																		1
Romania											17	8	5	5		8	4	9				11				10			9
Russia																						5	2	3					3
Serbia																									3	3	1	Q	3
Serbia and Montenegro^†																								2	Defunct				1
Team	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
Slovakia																							12						1
Soviet Union^†											7	3	2	3	2	1	8	1		3	Defunct								9
Spain					7	10	9			8	8				9	10		4	4	6	2	1	4	6	5	6	7	Q	17
Sweden			3	2	3	4			6	5	11							11											8
Switzerland					11	12	12		12	14																			5
Ukraine																						12							1
Unified Team^†																					3	Defunct							1
West Germany^†											15	6	6	6	10	4	6		3	4	See Germany								9
Yugoslavia^†									10	9	2	2	4	2	1	5	5	2	1	1	Defunct								12
FR Yugoslavia^†[lower-alpha 7]																						8	3	Defunct					2
Oceania – OSA (1 team)
Team[10]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	years
Australia										18	19	9	15	10		12	11	7	5	8	5		8	9	8	7	9	Q	16

Total teams	7		4	6	12	13	14	5	16	18	21	10	16	13	15	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Finishes in the top four

The following table is pre-sorted by total finishes in the top four (in descending order), 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 team (in ascending order), respectively.

Legend

^* – Host team
^† – Defunct team

Rk	Team	Total	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First year	Last year
1	Hungary	16	9 (1932, 1936, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1976, 2000, 2004, 2008)	3 (1928, 1948, 1972)	3 (1960, 1968, 1980)	1 (1996)	1928	2008
2	Italy	13	3 (1948, 1960^*, 1992)	2 (1976, 2012)	3 (1952, 1996, 2016)	3 (1956, 1964, 1968)	1948	2016
3	United States	9		3 (1984^*, 1988, 2008)	3 (1924, 1932^*, 1972)	3 (1920, 1952, 1992)	1920	2008
4	Yugoslavia^†	8	3 (1968, 1984, 1988)	4 (1952, 1956, 1964, 1980)		1 (1960)	1952	1988
5	Soviet Union^†	7	2 (1972, 1980^*)	2 (1960, 1968)	3 (1956, 1964, 1988)		1956	1988
6	Belgium	7		4 (1900, 1908, 1920^*, 1924)	2 (1912, 1936)	1 (1948)	1900	1948
7	Great Britain	5	4 (1900, 1908^*, 1912, 1920)			1 (1928)	1900	1928
8	Spain	5	1 (1996)	1 (1992^*)		3 (1980, 1984, 2000)	1980	2000
9	France	5	1 (1924^*)		3 (1900^*×2[lower-alpha 4], 1928)	1 (1936)	1900	1936
10	Sweden	4		1 (1912^*)	2 (1908, 1920)	1 (1924)	1908	1924
11	Croatia	3	1 (2012)	2 (1996, 2016)			1996	2016
11	Germany	3	1 (1928)	2 (1932, 1936^*)			1928	1936
13	Serbia	3	1 (2016)		2 (2008, 2012)		2008	2016
14	Netherlands	3			2 (1948, 1976)	1 (1908)	1908	1976
15	West Germany^†	3			1 (1984)	2 (1972^*, 1988)	1972	1988
16	Montenegro	3				3 (2008, 2012, 2016)	2008	2016
17	Russia	2		1 (2000)	1 (2004)		2000	2004
18	Serbia and Montenegro^†	1		1 (2004)			2004	2004
19	FR Yugoslavia^†[lower-alpha 7]	1			1 (2000)		2000	2000
19	Unified Team^†	1			1 (1992)		1992	1992
21	Austria	1				1 (1912)	1912	1912
	Greece					1 (2004^*)	2004	2004
	Japan					1 (1932)	1932	1932
	Romania					1 (1976)	1976	1976
Rk	Team	Total	Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First year	Last year

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 team (in ascending order), respectively.

Legend

^† – Defunct team


Rank	Team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Hungary	9	3	3	15
2	Great Britain	4	0	0	4
3	Yugoslavia^†	3	4	0	7
4	Italy	3	2	3	8
5	Soviet Union^†	2	2	3	7
6	Croatia	1	2	0	3
6	Germany	1	2	0	3
8	Spain	1	1	0	2
9	France[lower-alpha 4]	1	0	3	4
10	Serbia	1	0	2	3
11	Belgium	0	4	2	6
12	United States	0	3	3	6
13	Sweden	0	1	2	3
14	Russia	0	1	1	2
15	Serbia and Montenegro^†	0	1	0	1
16	Netherlands	0	0	2	2
17	FR Yugoslavia^†[lower-alpha 7]	0	0	1	1
	Unified Team^†	0	0	1	1
	West Germany^†	0	0	1	1
Totals (19 teams)		26	26	27	79

Winners

Serbia men's national water polo team celebrated after the gold medal match of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The following table shows results of men's Olympic water polo tournament winners.

Legend

6 – won 6 matches in the tournament
4 – drew 4 matches in the tournament
2 – lost 2 matches in the tournament
100% – won all matches in the tournament
team – Olympic winning streak (won three or more Olympic titles in a row)
– Host team
^† – Defunct team

Abbreviation

MP – Matches played
W – Won
D – Drawn
L – Lost
GF – Goals for
GA – Goals against
GD – Goals difference
GF/MP – Goals for per match
GA/MP – Goals against per match
GD/MP – Goals difference per match

#	Tournament	Men's winner	MP	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD	GF/MP	GA/MP	GD/MP
1	Paris 1900	Great Britain (1st title)	3	3	0	0	100%	29	3	26	9.667	1.000	8.667
2	St. Louis 1904	Water polo was a demonstration sport
3	London 1908	Great Britain (2nd title)	1[lower-alpha 5]	1	0	0	100%	9	2	7	9.000	2.000	7.000
4	Stockholm 1912	Great Britain (3rd title)	3	3	0	0	100%	21	8	13	7.000	2.667	4.333
5	Antwerp 1920	Great Britain (4th title)	3	3	0	0	100%	19	4	15	6.333	1.333	5.000
6	Paris 1924	France (1st title)	4	4	0	0	100%	16	6	10	4.000	1.500	2.500
7	Amsterdam 1928	Germany (1st title)	3	3	0	0	100%	18	10	8	6.000	3.333	2.667
8	Los Angeles 1932	Hungary (1st title)	3[lower-alpha 1]	3	0	0	100%	30	2	28	10.000	0.667	9.333
9	Berlin 1936	Hungary (2nd title)	7	6	1	0	85.7%	44	4	40	6.286	0.571	5.714
10	London 1948	Italy (1st title)	7[lower-alpha 2]	6	1	0	85.7%	35	14	21	5.000	2.000	3.000
11	Helsinki 1952	Hungary (3rd title)	8	6	2	0	75.0%	53	16	37	6.625	2.000	4.625
12	Melbourne 1956	Hungary (4th title)	6	6	0	0	100%	26	4	22	4.333	0.667	3.667
13	Rome 1960	Italy (2nd title)	7	6	1	0	85.7%	31	12	19	4.429	1.714	2.714
14	Tokyo 1964	Hungary (5th title)	6	5	1	0	83.3%	34	13	21	5.667	2.167	3.500
15	Mexico City 1968	Yugoslavia^† (1st title)	9	7	1	1	77.8%	86	35	51	9.556	3.889	5.667
16	Munich 1972	Soviet Union^† (1st title)	8	6	2	0	75.0%	48	24	24	6.000	3.000	3.000
17	Montreal 1976	Hungary (6th title)	8	7	1	0	87.5%	45	32	13	5.625	4.000	1.625
18	Moscow 1980	Soviet Union^† (2nd title)	8	8	0	0	100%	58	31	27	7.250	3.875	3.375
19	Los Angeles 1984	Yugoslavia^† (2nd title)	7	6	1	0	85.7%	72	44	28	10.286	6.286	4.000
20	Seoul 1988	Yugoslavia^† (3rd title)	7	6	0	1	85.7%	83	55	28	11.857	7.857	4.000
21	Barcelona 1992	Italy (3rd title)	7	5	2	0	71.4%	59	50	9	8.429	7.143	1.286
22	Atlanta 1996	Spain (1st title)	8	6	0	2	75.0%	58	48	10	7.250	6.000	1.250
23	Sydney 2000	Hungary (7th title)	8	6	0	2	75.0%	78	57	21	9.750	7.125	2.625
24	Athens 2004	Hungary (8th title)	7	7	0	0	100%	59	39	20	8.429	5.571	2.857
25	Beijing 2008	Hungary (9th title)	7	6	1	0	85.7%	85	55	30	12.143	7.857	4.286
26	London 2012	Croatia (1st title)	8	8	0	0	100%	73	42	31	9.125	5.250	3.875
27	Rio de Janeiro 2016	Serbia (1st title)	8	5	2	1	62.5%	80	66	14	10.000	8.250	1.750
#	Tournament	Total	161	138	16	7	85.7%	1249	676	573	7.758	4.199	3.559
#	Tournament	Men's winner	MP	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD	GF/MP	GA/MP	GD/MP

Player statistics

(C)	Captain	Apps	Appearances	Ref	Reference	Rk	Rank
L/R	Handedness	Pos	Playing position	FP	Field player	GK	Goalkeeper

Age records

The following tables show the oldest and youngest players who competed in men's water polo at the Summer Olympics, and the oldest and youngest male Olympic medalists in water polo.

Legend

– Host team

Appearance

Record	Age of the first Olympic water polo match	Player	Date of birth	Men's team	Pos	Date of the first Olympic water polo match	Ref
Oldest Olympic debutant	42 years, 303 days	Alexandr Polukhin	15 October 1961	Kazakhstan	GK	13 August 2004	[11]
Youngest male Olympian	14 years, 133 days	Alfonso Tusell	11 April 1906	Spain	FP	22 August 1920	[12]

Record	Age of the last Olympic water polo match	Player	Date of birth	Men's team	Pos	Date of the last Olympic water polo match	Ref
Oldest male Olympian	45 years, 169 days	Charles Smith	26 January 1879	Great Britain	GK	13 July 1924	[13]

Medalist

Record	Age of receiving the last Olympic gold/silver/bronze medal in water polo	Player	Date of birth	Men's team	Pos	Date of receiving the last Olympic gold/silver/bronze medal in water polo	Ref
Oldest male Olympic gold medalist	41 years, 216 days	Charles Smith	26 January 1879	Great Britain	GK	29 August 1920	[13]
Oldest male Olympic silver medalist	41 years, 128 days	Boris Goykhman	28 April 1919	Soviet Union	GK	3 September 1960	[14]
Oldest male Olympic bronze medalist	37 years, 223 days	Boris Goykhman	28 April 1919	Soviet Union	GK	7 December 1956	[14]

Record	Age of receiving the first Olympic gold/silver/bronze medal in water polo	Player	Date of birth	Men's team	Pos	Date of receiving the first Olympic gold/silver/bronze medal in water polo	Ref
Youngest male Olympic gold medalist	18 years, 172 days	Perica Bukić	20 February 1966	Yugoslavia	FP	10 August 1984	[15]
Youngest male Olympic silver medalist	18 years, 334 days	Herman Meyboom	23 August 1889	Belgium	FP	22 July 1908	[16]
Youngest male Olympic bronze medalist	15 years, 306 days	Paul Vasseur	10 October 1884	France	FP	12 August 1900	[17]

Multiple appearances (five-time Olympians)

Manuel Estiarte of Spain is the only water polo player to compete at six Olympic Games (1980–2000).

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic appearances (in descending order), date of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of birth (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Fourteen athletes competed in water polo at five or more Olympic Games between 1900 and 2016 inclusive. Paul Radmilovic, representing Great Britain, is the first water polo player to compete at five Olympics (1908–1928).[18]

Four athletes (Manuel Estiarte, Salvador Gómez, Jesús Rollán and Jordi Sans) were all members of the Spain men's national water polo team (1988–2000). Manuel Estiarte is the first and only water polo player (man or woman) to compete at six Olympics (1980–2000).[19] Jesús Rollán is the first water polo goalkeeper of either gender to compete at five Olympics (1984–2004).[20]

Tony Azevedo of the United States is the first non-European water polo player to compete at five Olympic Games (2000–2016).[21]

Italian goalkeeper Stefano Tempesti competed at five Olympics between 2000 and 2016.[22]

Legend

– Hosts

**Male athletes who competed in water polo at five or more Olympics**
Apps	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament						Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
Apps	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament						Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
6	Manuel Estiarte	1961	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Spain	FP	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	20 years (18/38)	1	1	0	2	[19]
5	Paul Radmilovic	1886	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	Great Britain	FP	1908	1912	1920	1924	1928	Does not appear	20 years (22/42)	3	0	0	3	[18]
	Dezső Gyarmati	1927	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Hungary	FP	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	3	1	1	5	[23]
	Gianni De Magistris	1950	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Italy	FP	1968	1972	1976	1980	1984	Does not appear	16 years (17/33)	0	1	0	1	[24]
	Jordi Sans	1965	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	Spain	FP	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	Does not appear	16 years (18/35)	1	1	0	2	[25]
	George Mavrotas	1967	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)	Greece	FP	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	Does not appear	16 years (17/33)	0	0	0	0	[26]
	Salvador Gómez	1968	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	Spain	FP	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	1	1	0	2	[27]
	Jesús Rollán	1968	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Spain	GK	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	1	1	0	2	[20]
	Tibor Benedek	1972	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Hungary	FP	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	3	0	0	3	[28]
	Igor Hinić	1975	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	Croatia	FP	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	1	1	0	2	[29]
	Tamás Kásás	1976	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Hungary	FP	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	3	0	0	3	[30]
	Georgios Afroudakis	1976	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	Greece	FP	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	Does not appear	16 years (19/35)	0	0	0	0	[31]
	Stefano Tempesti	1979	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	Italy	GK	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	Does not appear	16 years (21/37)	0	1	1	2	[22]
	Tony Azevedo	1981	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	United States	FP	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016	Does not appear	16 years (18/34)	0	1	0	1	[21]
Apps	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament						Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
Apps	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament						Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref

Multiple medalists

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), date of receiving the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), date of receiving the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Eight male athletes won four or more Olympic medals in water polo. Aside from Belgian player Joseph Pletinckx who won medals before World War II[32], all were members of the Hungary men's national water polo team. Dezső Gyarmati is the first and only athlete (man or woman) to win five Olympic medals in water polo (three gold, one silver and one bronze).[23]

Legend

– Hosts

**Male athletes who won four or more Olympic medals in water polo**
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Dezső Gyarmati	1927	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Hungary	FP	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	16 years (20/36)	3	1	1	5	[23]
2	György Kárpáti	1935	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)	Hungary	FP	1952	1956	1960	1964	Does not appear	12 years (17/29)	3	0	1	4	[33]
3	László Jeney	1923	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	Hungary	GK	1948	1952	1956	1960	Does not appear	12 years (25/37)	2	1	1	4	[34]
4	Mihály Mayer	1933	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Hungary	FP	1956	1960	1964	1968	Does not appear	12 years (22/34)	2	0	2	4	[35]
5	András Bodnár	1942	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	Hungary	FP	1960	1964	1968	1972	Does not appear	12 years (18/30)	1	1	2	4	[36]
	Endre Molnár	1945	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Hungary	GK	1968	1972	1976	1980	Does not appear	12 years (23/34)	1	1	2	4	[37]
	István Szívós Jr.	1948	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	Hungary	FP	1968	1972	1976	1980	Does not appear	12 years (20/32)	1	1	2	4	[38]
8	Joseph Pletinckx	1888		Belgium	FP	1908	1912	1920	1924	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	0	3	1	4	[32]
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref

Multiple gold medalists

Paul Radmilovic, representing Great Britain, won three gold medals in water polo at the 1908, 1912 and 1920 Olympics.

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), date of receiving the last Olympic gold medal (in ascending order), date of receiving the first Olympic gold medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Ten athletes won three or more Olympic gold medals in water polo. Six players (Tibor Benedek, Péter Biros, Tamás Kásás, Gergely Kiss, Tamás Molnár and Zoltán Szécsi) were all members of the Hungary men's national water polo team that won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2000, 2004 and 2008.[28][39][30][40][41][42]

Legend

– Hosts

**Male athletes who won three or more Olympic gold medals in water polo**
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Dezső Gyarmati	1927	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Hungary	FP	1948	1952	1956	1960	1964	16 years (20/36)	3	1	1	5	[23]
2	György Kárpáti	1935	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)	Hungary	FP	1952	1956	1960	1964	Does not appear	12 years (17/29)	3	0	1	4	[33]
3	Paul Radmilovic	1886	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	Great Britain	FP	1908	1912	1920	1924	1928	20 years (22/42)	3	0	0	3	[18]
	Charles Smith	1879	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	Great Britain	GK	1908	1912	1920	1924	Does not appear	16 years (29/45)	3	0	0	3	[13]
	Tibor Benedek	1972	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Hungary	FP	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	16 years (20/36)	3	0	0	3	[28]
	Péter Biros	1976	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	Hungary	FP	2000	2004	2008	2012	Does not appear	12 years (24/36)	3	0	0	3	[39]
	Tamás Kásás	1976	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Hungary	FP	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	16 years (20/36)	3	0	0	3	[30]
	Gergely Kiss	1977	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	Hungary	FP	2000	2004	2008	2012	Does not appear	12 years (22/34)	3	0	0	3	[40]
	Tamás Molnár	1975	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	Hungary	FP	2000	2004	2008	Does not appear	Does not appear	8 years (25/33)	3	0	0	3	[41]
	Zoltán Szécsi	1977	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	Hungary	GK	2000	2004	2008	2012	Does not appear	12 years (22/34)	3	0	0	3	[42]
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	Men's team	Pos	Water polo tournament					Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref

Top goalscorers by tournament

Filip Filipović scored 19 goals at the 2016 Olympics, helping Serbia win gold.

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), number of matches played (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Hans Schneider of Germany scored 22 goals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,[43] which stood as an Olympic water polo record for one Games until 1968, when the Dutch player Nico van der Voet scored 33 goals in Mexico City.[44]

Spaniard Manuel Estiarte holds the record for the most goals scored by a water polo player in a single Olympic tournament, scoring 34 goals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. At 18 years old, he made his Olympic debut at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where he was the youngest-ever male top goalscorer with 21 goals. He was also the top goalscorer at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with 27 goals, and the joint top goalscorers at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, with 22 goals.[19]

Hungrian left-handed player Tibor Benedek was the joint top goalscorer at the 1992 Games, with 22 goals, and the top goalscorer at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, with 19 goals.[28]

Aleksandar Šapić, representing FR Yugoslavia, was the top goalscorer at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, with 18 goals. Four years later, he scored 18 goals for Serbia and Montenegro, becoming the top goalscorer at the 2004 Athens Olympics.[45]

31-year-old István Szívós Sr. scored 16 goals for Hungary at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics,[46] which stood as an age record for the oldest top goalscorer in a single Olympic water polo tournament until 2008, when 33-year-old Alessandro Calcaterra of Italy scored 27 goals in Beijing.[47]

Left-hander Filip Filipović of Serbia was the joint top goalscorer at the 2016 Olympics, with 19 goals. He scored two goals in the gold medal match, helping the Serbia team win the Olympics. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the men's water polo tournament.[48]

Legend

– Host team

**Top male goalscorers by tournament**
Year	Player	Birth	Age	Height	L/R	Goals	Matches played	Goals per match	Men's team	Finish	Ref
1900	John Jarvis	1872	28			6	1	6.000	Great Britain	1st of 7 teams	[49]
1908	Fernand Feyaerts	1880	27–28			8	3	2.667	Belgium	2nd of 4 teams	[50]
1912	Robert Andersson	1886	25			9	4	2.250	Sweden	2nd of 6 teams	[51]
1920	Erik Andersson	1896	24			10	4	2.500	Sweden	3rd of 12 teams	[52]
1924	Pierre Dewin	1894	29–30			14	5	2.800	Belgium	2nd of 13 teams	[53]
1928	Ferenc Keserű	1903	24	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)		10	4	2.500	Hungary	2nd of 14 teams	[54]
1932	Philip Daubenspeck	1905	26			14	4	3.500	United States	3rd of 5 teams	[55]
1936	Hans Schneider	1909	26			22	7	3.143	Germany	2nd of 16 teams	[43]
1948	Aldo Ghira	1920	28			18[lower-alpha 2]	7[lower-alpha 2]	2.571	Italy	1st of 18 teams	[56]
1952	István Szívós Sr.	1920	31	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Right	16	6	2.667	Hungary	1st of 21 teams	[46]
1952	Ruud van Feggelen	1924	28			16[lower-alpha 3]	8[lower-alpha 3]	2.000	Netherlands	5th of 21 teams	[57]
1956	Petre Mshvenieradze	1929	27	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)		11	7	1.571	Soviet Union	3rd of 10 teams	[58]
1960	Fred Tisue	1938	21	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)		12	7	1.714	United States	7th of 16 teams	[59]
1960	Aurel Zahan	1938	22	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)		12	7	1.714	Romania	5th of 16 teams	[60]
1964	Nico van der Voet	1944	20	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)		10	7	1.429	Netherlands	8ht of 13 teams	[44]
1968	Nico van der Voet	1944	24	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)		33	9	3.667	Netherlands	7th of 15 teams	[44]
1972	Carlos Sánchez	1952	20	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)		18	9	2.000	Cuba	9th of 16 teams	[61]
1976	Tamás Faragó	1952	23	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	Right	22	8	2.750	Hungary	1st of 12 teams	[62]
1980	Manuel Estiarte	1961	18	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	21	8	2.625	Spain	4th of 12 teams	[19]
1984	Manuel Estiarte (C)	1961	22	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	34	7	4.857	Spain	4th of 12 teams	[19]
1988	Manuel Estiarte (C)	1961	26	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	27	7	3.857	Spain	6th of 12 teams	[19]
1992	Tibor Benedek	1972	20	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Left	22	7	3.143	Hungary	6th of 12 teams	[28]
1992	Manuel Estiarte (C)	1961	30	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	22	7	3.143	Spain	2nd of 12 teams	[19]
1996	Tibor Benedek	1972	24	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Left	19	8	2.375	Hungary	4th of 12 teams	[28]
2000	Aleksandar Šapić	1978	22	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	18	8	2.250	FR Yugoslavia	3rd of 12 teams	[45]
2004	Aleksandar Šapić	1978	26	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	18	8	2.250	Serbia and Montenegro	2nd of 12 teams	[45]
2008	Alessandro Calcaterra (C)	1975	33	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	27	8	3.375	Italy	9th of 12 teams	[47]
2012	Andrija Prlainović	1987	25	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	22	8	2.750	Serbia	3rd of 12 teams	[63]
2016	Filip Filipović	1987	29	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	Left	19	8	2.375	Serbia	1st of 12 teams	[48]
2016	Guillermo Molina (C)	1984	32	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	Right	19	8	2.375	Spain	7th of 12 teams	[64]
Year	Player	Birth	Age	Height	L/R	Goals	Matches played	Goals per match	Men's team	Finish	Ref

Nico van der Voet of the Netherlands scored 33 goals at the 1968 Olympics.

The following table shows the historical progression of the record of goals scored by a male water polo player in a single Olympic tournament.

Legend

– Host team

Goals	Achievement	Year	Player	Age	Height	L/R	Men's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref
6	Set record	1900	John Jarvis	28			Great Britain	12 August 1900	7 years, 345 days	[49]
8	Broke record	1908	Fernand Feyaerts	27–28			Belgium	22 July 1908	3 years, 360 days	[50]
9	Broke record	1912	Robert Andersson	25			Sweden	16 July 1912	8 years, 44 days	[51]
10	Broke record	1920	Erik Andersson	24			Sweden	29 August 1920	3 years, 326 days	[52]
14	Broke record	1924	Pierre Dewin	29–30			Belgium	20 July 1924	12 years, 26 days	[53]
14	Tied record	1932	Philip Daubenspeck	26			United States	13 August 1932	12 years, 26 days	[55]
22	Broke record	1936	Hans Schneider	26			Germany	15 August 1936	32 years, 72 days	[43]
33	Broke record	1968	Nico van der Voet	24	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)		Netherlands	26 October 1968	15 years, 289 days	[44]
34	Broke record	1984	Manuel Estiarte	22	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	Spain	10 August 1984	35 years, 321 days	[19]
Goals	Achievement	Year	Player	Age	Height	L/R	Men's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref

Source:

Official Reports (PDF): 1960 (pp. 617–634), 1964 (pp. 682–698), 1968 (pp. 811–826), 1972 (pp. 353–365), 1976 (p. 497), 1980 (p. 510), 1984 (p. 534), 1988 (pp. 590–598), 1992 (pp. 386–400), 1996 (pp. 56–73);
Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 45–92), 2004 (p. 184), 2008 (p. 179), 2012 (p. 466), 2016 (p. 100);
Olympedia website;
Sports Reference website.

All-time top goalscorers

Aleksandar Šapić scored 64 goals at four Olympics (1996–2008).

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total goals (in descending order), number of total Olympic matches played (in ascending order), date of the last Olympic match played (in ascending order), date of the first Olympic match played (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

Six-time Olympian Manuel Estiarte holds the record for the most goals scored by a water polo player in Olympic history, with 127 goals, far more than any other player. At his first three Olympics (1980–1988), Estiarte scored 82 goals.[19]

Hungarian left-hander Tibor Benedek scored 65 goals at five Olympics (1992–2008),[28] and his teammate Tamás Kásás scored 56 goals (1996–2012).[30]

Aleksandar Šapić, representing FR Yugoslavia in 1996 and 2000, Serbia and Montenegro in 2004, and Serbia in 2008, scored 64 goals in 32 matches.[45]

Tony Azevedo of the United States holds the record for the most goals scored by a non-European water polo player in Olympic history, with 61 goals at five Olympics (2000–2016).[21]

Gianni De Magistris is the top scorer for the Italy men's Olympic water polo team, with 59 goals (1968–1984).[24] His compatriot Eraldo Pizzo scored 53 goals at four Olympics between 1960 and 1972.[65]

Legend

– Hosts

**All-time top male goalscorers with at least 50 goals at the Olympics**
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	L/R	Men's team	Total goals	Total matches played	Goals per match	Tournament (goals)						Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
Rk	Player	Birth	Height	L/R	Men's team	Total goals	Total matches played	Goals per match	Tournament (goals)						Period (age of first/last)	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Manuel Estiarte	1961	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	Spain	127	45	2.822	1980 (21)	1984 (34)	1988 (27)	1992 (22)	1996 (13)	2000 (10)	20 years (18/38)	1	1	0	2	[19]
2	Tibor Benedek	1972	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	Left	Hungary	65	37	1.757	1992 (22)	1996 (19)	2000 (9)	2004 (5)	2008 (10)	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	3	0	0	3	[28]
3	Aleksandar Šapić	1978	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	FR Yugoslavia	64	32	2.000	1996 (8)	2000 (18)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years (18/30)	0	1	2	3	[45]
					Serbia and Montenegro				Does not appear	Does not appear	2004 (18)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear
					Serbia				Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	2008 (20)	Does not appear	Does not appear
4	Tony Azevedo	1981	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Right	United States	61	35	1.743	2000 (13)	2004 (15)	2008 (17)	2012 (11)	2016 (5)	Does not appear	16 years (18/34)	0	1	0	1	[21]
5	Gianni De Magistris	1950	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Right	Italy	59	40	1.475	1968 (6)	1972 (11)	1976 (11)	1980 (20)	1984 (11)	Does not appear	16 years (17/33)	0	1	0	1	[24]
6	Tamás Kásás	1976	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	Right	Hungary	56	38	1.474	1996 (13)	2000 (12)	2004 (14)	2008 (8)	2012 (9)	Does not appear	16 years (20/36)	3	0	0	3	[30]
7	Eraldo Pizzo	1938	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	Italy	53	29	1.828	1960 (7)	1964 (5)	1968 (29)	1972 (12)	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years (22/34)	1	0	0	1	[65]

Gianni De Magistris of Italy scored 59 goals at five Olympics (1968–1984).

The following table shows the historical progression of the record of total goals scored by a male water polo player at the Summer Olympics.

Legend

– Host team

Total goals	Achievement	Year	Player	Age	Height	L/R	Men's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref
32	Set record	1936	János Németh	30	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)		Hungary	15 August 1936	32 years, 72 days	[66]
32	Tied record	1952	Ruud van Feggelen	28			Netherlands[lower-alpha 3]	2 August 1952	32 years, 72 days	[57]
43	Broke record	1968	Nico van der Voet	24	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)		Netherlands	26 October 1968	3 years, 314 days	[44]
53	Broke record	1972	Eraldo Pizzo	34	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Right	Italy	4 September 1972	11 years, 341 days	[65]
59	Broke record	1984	Gianni De Magistris	33	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	Right	Italy	10 August 1984	4 years, 52 days	[24]
82	Broke record	1988	Manuel Estiarte	26	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	Spain	1 October 1988	3 years, 313 days	[19]
104	Broke record	1992	Manuel Estiarte	30	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	Spain	9 August 1992	3 years, 354 days	[19]
117	Broke record	1996	Manuel Estiarte	34	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	Spain	28 July 1996	4 years, 65 days	[19]
127	Broke record	2000	Manuel Estiarte	38	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Right	Spain	1 October 2000	19 years, 269 days	[19]
Total goals	Achievement	Year	Player	Age	Height	L/R	Men's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref

Source: Official Reports; Official Results Books; Olympedia website; Sports Reference website.

Top goalkeepers and sprinters

Coach statistics

Ref	Reference	Rk	Rank
Pos	Playing position	FP	Field player	GK	Goalkeeper

Most successful coaches

Ratko Rudić coached three men's national teams to four Olympic gold medals (Yugoslavia in 1984 and 1988, Italy in 1992 and Croatia in 2012).

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), date of the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), date of the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the coach (in ascending order), respectively.

There are four coaches who led men's national water polo teams to win three or more Olympic medals.

Ratko Rudić is the most successful water polo coach in Olympic history. As a head coach, he led three men's national water polo teams to win four Olympic gold medals and one Olympic bronze medal. He guided Yugoslavia men's national team to two consecutive gold medals in 1984 and 1988, Italy men's national team to a gold medal in 1992 and a bronze medal in 1996, and Croatia men's national team to a gold medal in 2012, making him the first and only coach to lead three different men's national water polo teams to the Olympic titles.[67][68]

Dénes Kemény of Hungary is another coach who led men's national water polo team(s) to win three Olympic gold medals. Under his leadership, the Hungary men's national team won three gold in a row between 2000 and 2008, becoming the second water polo team to have an Olympic winning streak.[69]

Dezső Gyarmati coached the Hungary men's national team to three consecutive Olympic medals, a silver in 1972, a gold in 1976, and a bronze in 1980.[70]

Boris Popov led Soviet Union men's national team to win an Olympic gold medal in 1980 and a bronze medal in 1988. Four years later, he coached the Unified Team to win another bronze medal.[71]

Legend

– Hosts

**Head coaches who led men's national teams to win three or more Olympic medals**
Rk	Head coach	Nationality	Birth	Age	Men's team	Tournament (finish)									Period	Medals				Ref
Rk	Head coach	Nationality	Birth	Age	Men's team	Tournament (finish)									Period	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Ratko Rudić	Yugoslavia	1948	36–40	Yugoslavia	1984 (1st)	1988 (1st)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	32 years	4	0	1	5	[72][67] [68]
		Croatia		44–52	Italy	Does not appear	Does not appear	1992 (1st)	1996 (3rd)	2000 (5th)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear
				56	United States	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	2004 (7th)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear
				60–64	Croatia	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	2008 (6th)	2012 (1st)	Does not appear
				68	Brazil	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	2016 (8th)
2	Dénes Kemény	Hungary	1954	46–58	Hungary	2000 (1st)	2004 (1st)	2008 (1st)	2012 (5th)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years	3	0	0	3	[69]
3	Dezső Gyarmati	Hungary	1927	44–52	Hungary	1972 (1st)	1976 (1st)	1980 (3rd)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	8 years	1	1	1	3	[23][70]
4	Boris Popov	Soviet Union	1941	39, 47	Soviet Union	1980 (1st)	Does not appear	1988 (3rd)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years	1	0	2	3	[73][71]
4	Boris Popov	Russia	1941	51	Unified Team	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	1992 (3rd)	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	Does not appear	12 years	1	0	2	3	[73][71]

Medals as coach and player

Terry Schroeder of the United States won two Olympic medals in 1984 and 1988, and then coached the United States men's national team to the podium in 2008.

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), date of the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), date of the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the person (in ascending order), respectively.

Ten water polo players won Olympic medals and then guided men's national water polo teams to the Olympic podium as head coaches.

Dezső Gyarmati of Hungary won five Olympic medals in a row between 1948 and 1964. He coached the Hungary men's national team to three consecutive Olympic medals: a silver (1972), a gold (1976) and a bronze (1980).[23][70]

Ivo Trumbić won the silver medal in 1964 and Yugoslavia's first Olympic gold medal in water polo, in 1968. He moved to the Netherlands in 1973, hired as the head coach of the Netherlands men's national team. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, he led the Dutch team to win a bronze medal.[74][75]

Boris Popov, representing the Soviet Union, won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. He guided Soviet Union men's national team to two Olympic medals in 1980 and 1988, and the Unified Team to a bronze medal in 1992.[71]

Aleksandr Kabanov of the Soviet Union won a gold at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Eight years later, he won the second gold medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, coached by Boris Popov. As a head coach, he led Russia men's national team to win two consecutive medals in 2000 and 2004.[76][77]

Ratko Rudić won a silver medal for Yugoslavia at the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Upon retirement as an athlete, he immediately entered the coaching ranks. During his career, Rudić guided three different men's national teams to five Olympic medals, more than any other coaches.[72][67][68]

Terry Schroeder of the United States won two consecutive silver medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Twenty years later, he coached the United States men's national team to a silver in 2008, becoming the first and only non-European to achieve this feat.[78][79][80]

Italian Alessandro Campagna won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, coached by Ratko Rudić. As a head coach, he led Italy men's national team to win two medals in 2012 and 2016.[81][82]

Dejan Savić won three consecutive Olympic medals between 2000 and 2008. At the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, he coached Serbia men's national team to win the Olympic title.[83]

Legend

^* – Host team

Rk	Person	Birth	Height	Player				Head coach			Total medals				Ref
Rk	Person	Birth	Height	Age	Men's team	Pos	Medal	Age	Men's team	Medal	G	S	B	T	Ref
1	Dezső Gyarmati	1927	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	20–36	Hungary	FP	1948 , 1952 , 1956 , 1960 , 1964	44–52	Hungary	1972 , 1976 , 1980	4	2	2	8	[23][70]
2	Ratko Rudić	1948	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	32	Yugoslavia	FP	1980	36–40	Yugoslavia	1984 , 1988	4	1	1	6	[72][67] [68]
								44–48	Italy	1992 , 1996
								64	Croatia	2012
3	Aleksandr Kabanov	1948	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	24, 32	Soviet Union	FP	1972 , 1980^*	52–56	Russia	2000 , 2004	2	1	1	4	[76][77]
4	Dejan Savić	1975	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	25	FR Yugoslavia	FP	2000	41	Serbia	2016	1	1	2	4	[83]
				29	Serbia and Montenegro	FP	2004
				33	Serbia	FP	2008
5	Boris Popov	1941	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	23	Soviet Union	FP	1964	39, 47	Soviet Union	1980^* , 1988	1	0	3	4	[73][71]
5	Boris Popov	1941	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	23	Soviet Union	FP	1964	51	Unified Team	1992	1	0	3	4	[73][71]
6	Dezső Lemhényi	1917		30–34	Hungary	FP	1948 , 1952	42	Hungary	1960	1	1	1	3	[84][85]
	Ivo Trumbić	1935	1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)	29–33	Yugoslavia	FP	1964 , 1968	41	Netherlands	1976	1	1	1	3	[74][75]
	Alessandro Campagna	1963	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	29	Italy	FP	1992	49–53	Italy	2012 , 2016	1	1	1	3	[81][82]
9	Terry Schroeder	1958	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	25–29	United States	FP	1984^* , 1988	49	United States	2008	0	3	0	3	[78][79] [80]
10	Gianni Lonzi	1938	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	22	Italy	FP	1960^*	37	Italy	1976	1	1	0	2	[86][87]
Rk	Person	Birth	Height	Age	Men's team	Pos	Medal	Age	Men's team	Medal	G	S	B	T	Ref
Rk	Person	Birth	Height	Player				Head coach			Total medals				Ref