The women’s water polo tournament at the Olympic Games promises to be an exciting event as the teams have grown closer over the years. Fukuoka proved that the United States are not unbeatable, but in Doha they are back on top. Interestingly, the same three countries that finished on the podium at the World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024 are the same three that finished on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics.
The USA is the only team to win a gold medal at the last three Olympic, and since women’s water polo made its debut at the Sydney 2000 Games has finished on the podium at every tournament (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze). Team USA still has the biggest names in the team – Ashleigh Johnson, Maddie Musselman and Maggie Steffens are key members of the three-time defending Olympic champions.
At the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, the main goal of the Hungarians was to qualify for Olympics. They achieved this goal, or rather surpassed it, as they marched all the way to second place. The Hungarians started the World Championships with two new head coaches, starting in September 2023, and after a disappointing 6th place in Fukuoka, the second place was an extra motivation for the team before Paris.
The World Championships finalists, USA and Hungary, spent their Olympic preparations together. The Hungarians joined the Americans for a week-long training camp in the USA, where they played two friendly matches – the first won by the USA, the second by Magyars.
The head coaches of the Hungarian team chose an interesting time to select the Olympic team, as they Olympic roster was called during their training camp. However, they did not come up with much new as they will go to Paris with the same team that won silver in Doha. Attila Mihok commented on the selection: “We were selecting the players for the positions, but all in all, the roster is the same as it was at the World Championships in Doha. We have the experience with this team, we know what we can get from the players.”
The Spanish have also named their Olympic team, with most of the players from the CN Sabadell’s team, so they know each other quite well. Spain’s strength is that they play as a team. With this mentality they won a silver medal at the European Championships and a bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
The Spaniards took part in a tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where they defeated both the host Netherlands and the Italians. All in all, it’s safe to say that it’s going to be an exciting battle in Paris! But will that be enough for the Paris Olympics? We will find out from July 27.
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