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Born | 1 November 1973 Figline Valdarno | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Leonardo Sottani (born 1 November 1973 in Figline Valdarno) is a retired water polo player from Italy, who represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There the attacking forward (1m97) was a member of the men's national team that claimed the bronze medal. He participated at the 1996, 2000, and 2008 Summer Olympics representing the Italian National Waterpolo team.
He played for the most successful waterpolo team in the world, Pro Recco, and helped the team win the Italian League and Coppa Italia in 2006 and 2007. He also played for RN Florentia.
Anthony Lawrence Azevedo is a Brazilian-born American water polo player. He is a 2008 Olympic silver medalist and a five-time Olympian. Azevedo ranks fourth on the all-time scoring list in Olympic history, with 61 goals. Nicknamed "The Savior" at one point, he is considered to be one of the best American water polo players in recent memory. He was the former captain of the U.S. National Men's Water Polo Team. He is also a graduate of Stanford University.
Tibor Benedek was a Hungarian professional water polo player and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He played on the gold medal squads at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. Benedek also competed at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics, where the Hungarian team placed 6th and 4th, respectively.
Vladimir Vujasinović is a Serbian professional water polo head coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of VK Novi Beograd.
Veljko Uskoković is a retired Montenegrin water polo player. His club achievements are: European Champion 2000, 4 times Yugoslav Champion 4 times Yugoslav Cup Winner. Member of Yugoslav national water polo team from 1991 to 2002. Team captain from 1996 to 2001. Uskoković played more than 300 games, and scored over 400 goals.
Xavier García Gadea is a Spanish-Croatian water polo player. He was a member of the Spain national team between 1999 and 2013, finishing in sixth place at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, fifth at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and sixth again at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In 2003, García, then playing for CN Barcelona-Noferthe, ended up in fifth place with the national side at the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in his home town of Barcelona.
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.
Alessandro Calcaterra is an Italian water polo player, who represented his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. He was a member of the men's national team that claimed the bronze medal in 1996. He was the top goalscorer at the 2008 Olympics, with 27 goals.
Alberto Angelini is a retired water polo player from Italy, who represented his native country at four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. He was a member of the men's national team that claimed the bronze medal in 1996.
Filip Filipović is a Serbian professional water polo player widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He was a member of the Serbia men's national water polo teams that won bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and gold medals in 2016 and 2020. He also held the world title in 2009 and 2015 and the European title in 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018. He was named Most Valuable Player at the 2011 World Championships. He was also voted as the male water polo "World Player of the Year" in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2021 by the FINA magazine. He played for Pro Recco in Italy and won three LEN Champions League and three LEN Super Cup with them. Currently, he plays for Novi Beograd.
Aleksandar Ivović, is a Montenegrin professional water polo player. He started his career at PVK Jadran, which is his first senior team to compete for. He was a member of the Montenegro men's national water polo team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The team reached the semifinals, where they were defeated by Hungary and then lost to Serbia in the bronze medal match. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was again a member of Montenegro's team, where they lost to Croatia in the semi-final, and then lost to Serbia again in the bronze medal match, this time 11–12. He is considered one of the best defenders of all time and by many the top in his position in the world as he can transform the entire defense of his team.
Maurizio Mannelli was an Italian water polo player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Stefano Tempesti is an Italian water polo goalkeeper. He competed at five consecutive Olympics between 2000 and 2016 and won a silver medal in 2012 and a bronze in 2016. He is the second water polo goalkeeper to compete at five Olympics, after Spaniard Jesús Rollán. Tempesti was the top goalkeeper at the 2008 Olympics, with 83 saves. He was also the top goalkeeper at the 2012 Olympics, with 87 saves.
Andro Bušlje is a Croatian water polo player who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he was part of the Croatian team that won the gold medal. He is right-handed and plays the center defender position. From 2016 to 2019 he played for Greek powerhouse Olympiacos, with whom he won the 2017–18 LEN Champions League. He started playing water polo at the age of 12, and he made his national team debut in 2005. Bušlje is one of the top defenders in the world.
Aaron Younger is an Australian professional water polo player.
Sandro Sukno is a Croatian former professional water polo player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed for the Croatia national team in the men's event winning the gold medal. He also won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He last played for VK Jug. He currently works as an assistant coach of the senior men's Croatia national team.
Dušan Mandić is a Serbian water polo player who plays for Ferencváros. He was a part of the Montenegrin junior water polo team before opting to play for Serbia. With Serbian junior national team he won a gold medal at the 2011 Junior Water Polo World Championship. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed for the Serbia men's national water polo team in the men's event.
Francesco Di Fulvio is an Italian professional water polo player. He was part of the Italian team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where the team won the bronze medal.
Marco Del Lungo is an Italian professional water polo player. He was part of the Italian team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where the team won the bronze medal.
Robert Lynn is an American water polo player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics.