Water polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

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Women's water polo
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad
Olympic rings without rims.svg
Tournament details
Host countryFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
City Sydney
Venue(s) Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre,
Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Dates16–23 September 2000
Teams 6 (from 4 confederations)
Competitors78
Final positions
Champions Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (1st title)
Runners-upFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Third placeFlag of Russia.svg  Russia
Fourth placeFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches20
Goals scored245 (12.25 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of the Netherlands.svg Daniëlle de Bruijn
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bridgette Gusterson
Flag of Russia.svg Sofia Konukh
(11 goals in 7 matches)
Most saves Flag of the Netherlands.svg Karla Plugge
(45 saves in 7 matches)
Top sprinter(s) Flag of Russia.svg Tatiana Petrova
(16 sprints won in 7 matches)
2004

The women's water polo tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was held from 16 to 23 September 2000, with six teams competing in the debut tournament. The games were held at the Ryde Aquatic Centre and the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre. It was the first time in history that women's water polo officially competed at the Summer Olympics.

The tournament's format saw the six teams compete in a round-robin with the top four teams qualifying through to the semi-finals while the fifth and sixth teams competed in the fifth place playoff. From there, the winners of the semis met in the gold medal match while the losers met in the bronze medal match.

At the end of the round-robin, Australia, the Netherlands, Russia and the United States finished in the top four. After the Australians and the Americans each won their semi-final, they met in the final which was played on 23 September 2000. With the match tied at 3–3, Yvette Higgins scored the winning goal with only 1.3 seconds left on the clock to give Australia the gold medal. Russia captured bronze, beating the Netherlands 4–3.

Background and qualification

The women's water polo tournament at the 2000 Summer Olympics was the first time the tournament was held at the Olympic Games. Previous tournaments included the World Aquatics Championships (since 1986) and the World Cup (since 1979). Despite it being held as a demonstration sport at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, women's water polo was not accepted as part of the 2000 Olympics until October 1997. [1]

15 teams attempted to qualify through to the tournament with two qualification paths to the Olympics. The World Cup, which was held in Winnipeg, Canada, where the Netherlands and Canada qualified through as the leading European and American team for the tournament. [2] The final qualifier was held in Palermo, Italy, in April 2000. The top two teams (Russia and the United States) qualified. Kazakhstan, who finished in sixth place, qualified through the spot reserved for Asian teams. [3] [4]

EventDatesHostsQuotaQualifier(s)
Host nation1Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
1999 FINA World Cup 24–29 May 1999 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Winnipeg 2Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
2000 Women's Olympic Water Polo Qualifying Tournament 22–30 April 2000 Flag of Italy.svg Palermo 3Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Total6

Preliminary round

Summary

The tournament began on 16 September 2000, with all six teams competing on the first day. [5] In the first match, Olga Leshchuk scored the opening goal of the tournament for Kazakhstan, but Australia dominated with Bridgette Gusterson scoring three goals and Yvette Higgins two goals as Australia defeated Kazakhstan 9–2. [6] The following match saw Russia and Canada finish with a seven all draw which the Edmonton Journal described as a match like "old style Russia-Canada hockey". [7] The final match of the opening day saw the United States defeat the Netherlands 6–4, despite the Dutch coming back early in the third quarter. [8]

The following day, Australia became the only team to be two for two in the tournament after breaking the three all deadlock with goals from Gusterson and Melissa Mills as they went on to defeat Russia 6–3. [9] The Americans came back from a three goal deficit at the start of the final quarter to secure a goal in the last seconds of the game to finish with a draw with Canada. For the Canadians, the plan to control the shot-clock failed because of errors leading to their second draw of the tournament. [10] The final match of the second day saw the Netherlands defeat Kazakhstan 8–6 with Daniëlle de Bruijn and Marjan op den Velde both scoring three goals in the victory. [11]

Day three of the preliminary round saw the first loss for the Australians, 5–4 to the Dutch. This was despite three goals from Yvette Higgins as the Dutch took the victory at the start of the final quarter. [12] The Americans took top spot in the group after Coralie Simmons scored three goals as they worked their way to a 7–5 win over Russia. [13] Four Canadians scored two goals each in the final match of the day as they romped over Kazakhstan 10–3 to record their first win of the campaign. In the process, they kept Leschuk goalless in the match. [14]

The fourth day of the preliminary round saw the first teams to qualify through to the semi-finals. In the opening match of the day, the Australians defeated the undefeated Americans 7–6 to book a spot in the semis with the United States. In a tense match, the Australians got the victory from a turnover when Bridgette Gusterson scored the winning goal with a long shot in the last thirty seconds of the match. [15] The first half dominance by Russia strengthened their chance of a semi-final as they scored ten goals, five of those being from player advantage situations. This performance led to the biggest victory of the tournament, as Russia won 15–6, knocking Kazakhstan out of the tournament in the process. [16] The Netherlands became the third team to qualify through to the semis after two goals from Danielle de Bruijn and Karin Kuipers secured a 7–4 win over Canada. [17]

The final day of the preliminary round began on 20 September. In the opening match, Australia finished top of the group after defeating the Canadians 9–4 with goalkeeper, Danielle Woodhouse saving nine of the 13 shots for Australia and Simone Hankin scoring three goals in the victory. [18] The following match, Russia book the final spot in the semis with a 6–3 win over the Netherlands, knocking Canada out of the competition in the process. Sofia Konoukh was the top scorer in the match with three goals, as the Russians played with greater tenacity and purpose. [18] In the final match of the preliminary round, the United States took their advantage of power plays, scoring five out of seven attempts as they went to win 9–6 over Kazakhstan. [19]

Standings

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia (H)54013520+158 Semi Finals
2Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53113630+67
3Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 53022726+16
4Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 52123629+75
5Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 5122333414
6Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 50052351280
Source: LA84
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference.
(H) Hosts

Matches

16 September 2000
13:00
Report Kazakhstan  Flag of Kazakhstan.svg29Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Melliar (RSA), Rolf Ludecke (GER)
Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-2, 0-1, 0-4
two players 1Goals Gusterson 3

16 September 2000
18:00
Report Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg77Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Ahmet Erhan Tulga (TUR), Patrick Clemenson (FRA)
Score by quarters: 2-3, 0-1, 2-2, 3-1
Dow 3Goalstwo players 2

16 September 2000
19:15
Report Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg46Flag of the United States.svg  United States Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Angel Moliner Molins (ESP), Gyorgy Csaszar (HUN)
Score by quarters: 0-2, 1-1, 2-1, 1-2
de Bruijn 2Goals Lorenz 2

17 September 2000
13:00
Report Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg63Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Paraskevas Chasekioglou (GRE), Gad Schwartz (ISR)
Score by quarters:2-1, 1-1, 2-1, 1-0
two players 2Goalsthree players 1

17 September 2000
18:00
Report United States  Flag of the United States.svg88Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Vlastimil Kratochvil (SVK)
Score by quarters: 3-3, 2-3, 0-2, 3-0
Beauregard 3Goals Horn-Miller 3

17 September 2000
19:15
Report Kazakhstan  Flag of Kazakhstan.svg68Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Dragan Rajevic (YUG), Juan Carlos Menéndez (CUB)
Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-2, 1-2, 1-2
Leshchuk 3Goalstwo players 3

18 September 2000
13:00
Report Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg54Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Zeljko Klaric (CRO), Ahmet Erhan Tulga (TUR)
Score by quarters:2-1, 1-1, 0-2, 2-0
de Bruijn 2Goals Higgins 3

18 September 2000
18:00
Report Russia  Flag of Russia.svg57Flag of the United States.svg  United States Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Renato Dani (ITA), Patrick Clemencon (FRA)
Score by quarters: 1-1, 2-2, 1-3, 1-1
five players 1Goals Simmons 3

18 September 2000
19:15
Report Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg103Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Rolf Ludecke (GER), Vahid Moradi (IRI)
Score by quarters:3-1, 3-0, 1-2, 3-0
four players 2Goalsthree players 1

19 September 2000
13:00
Report United States  Flag of the United States.svg67Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Paraskevas Chasekioglou (GRE), Boris Margeta (SLO)
Score by quarters: 2-2, 1-0, 2-4, 1-1
two players 2Goals Gusteron 2

19 September 2000
18:00
Report Kazakhstan  Flag of Kazakhstan.svg615Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Gad Schwartz (ISR), Vlastimil Kratochvil (SVK)
Score by quarters: 1-5, 1-5, 3-3, 1-2
Aleyeva 2Goalstwo players 3

19 September 2000
19:15
Report Netherlands  Flag of the Netherlands.svg74Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Angel Moliner Molins (ESP), Renato Dani (ITA)
Score by quarters:3-0, 0-2, 2-2, 2-0
two players 2Goals Begin 2

20 September 2000
13:00
Report Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg49Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Rolf Ludecke (GER), Patrick Clemencon (FRA)
Score by quarters: 0-1, 2-4, 1-2, 1-2
four players 1Goals Hankin 3

20 September 2000
18:00
Report Russia  Flag of Russia.svg63Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Ahmet Erhan Tulga (TUR), Gyorgy Csaszar (HUN)
Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-1, 3-0, 1-0
Konoukh 3Goals Kuipers 2

20 September 2000
19:15
Report Kazakhstan  Flag of Kazakhstan.svg69Flag of the United States.svg  United States Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Zeljko Klaric (CRO), Vahid Moradi (IRI)
Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-1
two players 2Goals Villa 4

Final round

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
22 September
 
 
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 7
 
23 September
 
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 6
 
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 4
 
22 September
 
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 3
 
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6
 
 
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 5
 
Bronze medal
 
 
23 September
 
 
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 4
 
 
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3

Semifinals

The women's tournament semifinals took place on 22 September. The opening semi saw the Australians take on Russia. During the opening half, the Australians struggled across both ends of the pool as the Russians opened up a 4–3 lead at half-time. The Russians seeming to be in control and with five minutes left, held firm with a 6–4 lead. But three late goals, including two in the last ninety seconds, booked the Australians a spot in the final with a 7–6 victory. At the end of the match, coach Istvan Gorgenyi responded saying, "the girls made a miracle happen with their hearts". [20]

In the other semi-final, the Americans fought hard as they knocked out the then-World Cup champions, the Netherlands 6–5. This was due partly to two goals from Maureen O'Toole and Coralie Simmons. At the end of the match, United States coach Guy Baker said, "we know we're going to get a medal, a lot of this is indescribable". [21]

22 September 2000
13:00
Report Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg76Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Rolf Helmut Ludecke (GER), Boris Margeta (SLO)
Score by quarters: 2-3, 1-1, 1-2, 3-0
Mayer 3Goals Tokoun 2

22 September 2000
19:15
Report United States  Flag of the United States.svg65Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Renato Dani (ITA), Patrick Clemencon (FRA)
Score by quarters:3-2, 1-3, 1-0, 1-0
two players 2Goalstwo players 2

5th place match

The battle for fifth place took place on the same day as the semi-finals, with the Canadians coming out on top in the match with a goal by Jana Salat in the second period of overtime, giving Canada the fifth spot. [22]

22 September 2000
18:00
Report Canada  Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg98Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Andrew Jay Takata (USA), Phillip Bower (AUS)
Score by quarters: 1-1, 3-3, 2-3, 2-1  OT:1-0, 0–0
four players 2Goals Pyryseva 3

Bronze medal match

The second-to-last match of the tournament saw the Russians take home the bronze medal as they defeated the Netherlands 4–3. Two goals in the last two minutes of the match from Sofia Konoukh and Ioulia Petrova brought Russia back from a 3–2 deficit to the bronze medal. For the Netherlands, this meant they had failed to win a medal in a major water polo competition across 17 tournaments in the World Cup and the World Championships. [23]

23 September 2000
20:00
Report Russia  Flag of Russia.svg43Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Ahmet Erhan Tulga (TUR), Paraskevas Chasekioglou (GRE)
Score by quarters: 0-2, 1-0, 1-1, 2-0
Konoukh 2Goals Kuipers 2

Gold medal match

With a crowd of 17,000 watching the gold medal match, including Australian prime minister John Howard, the Australians and the Americans battled in a final which went undecided until the last few seconds. [24] The Americans had opened up a one-goal lead in the first and second quarter before the Australians leveled the match at two all after three quarters. [24]

Goalkeeping from both Bernice Orwig and Liz Weekes kept the match level until the final two minutes when Naomi Castle gave the Australians the lead with a goal at a player advantage. Brenda Villa tied the match at three all with only 13 seconds left in the match as the Americans took the advantage of a foul by the Australians. In the final seconds, a foul was called on Julie Swail of the U.S., and with 1.3 seconds left on the clock, the Australians scored the match winning goal from Yvette Higgins to give Australia not only the win but the first gold medal in women's water polo. [25] [26]

23 September 2000
21:15
Report Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg43Flag of the United States.svg  United States Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Renato Dani (ITA), Vladimir Prikhodko (KAZ)
Score by quarters: 1-1, 0-1, 1-0, 2-1
four players 1Goals Villa 2

Final ranking

At the end of the tournament, Australia recorded their fourth gold medal in a major water polo competition. Their three previous gold medals were won in 1984, 1995 (both FINA World Cups) and the 1986 World Aquatic Championships. [5]

RankTeam
Gold medal icon.svg Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Silver medal icon.svg Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
4Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
5Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
6Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan

Medalists

GoldSilverBronze
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)
Naomi Castle
Joanne Fox
Bridgette Gusterson
Simone Hankin
Yvette Higgins
Kate Hooper
Bronwyn Mayer-Smith
Gail Miller
Melissa Mills
Debbie Watson (C)
Liz Weekes (GK)
Danielle Woodhouse (GK)
Taryn Woods

Head coach: István Görgényi
Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Robin Beauregard
Ellen Estes
Courtney Johnson
Ericka Lorenz
Heather Moody
Maureen O'Toole
Bernice Orwig (GK)
Nicolle Payne (GK)
Heather Petri
Kathy Sheehy
Coralie Simmons
Julie Swail (C)
Brenda Villa

Head coach: Guy Baker
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia  (RUS)
Galina Rytova
Irina Tolkunova
Maria Koroleva
Marina Akobiya
Natalia Kutuzova
Sofia Konukh
Svetlana Kuzina
Tatiana Petrova
Ekaterina Anikeeva
Yekaterina Vasilyeva
Elena Smurova
Elena Tokun
Yuliya Petrova

Head coach: Sergei Frolov

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