Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Women's water polo
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Tournament details
Host country	United Kingdom
City	London
Venue(s)	Water Polo Arena
Dates	30 July – 9 August 2012
Teams	8 (from 4 confederations)
Competitors	102
Final positions
Champions	United States (1st title)
Runners-up	Spain
Third place	Australia
Fourth place	Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches	24
Goals scored	468 (19.5 per match)
Multiple; appearances	4-time Olympian(s): 3; 3-time Olympian(s): 6
Multiple; medalists	4-time medalist(s): 2
Top scorer(s)	Maggie Steffens ; (21 goals in 6 matches)
Most saves	Elena Gigli ; (56 saves in 6 matches)
Top sprinter(s)	Kate Gynther ; Jennifer Pareja ; (21 sprints won in 6 matches)
MVP	Maggie Steffens
	← 2008 2016 →

Last updated September 28, 2023

Format

The tournament featured eight teams, separated into two groups of four teams.^[2] Each team played the other three teams in its pool once in a round-robin format. All eight teams advanced to the quarterfinal stage where they were seeded and played against a team from the other group.^[3]

The winners of the quarterfinal games moved on to the semifinals, while the quarterfinal losers played a series of classification games. The semifinal winners played in the gold medal game, while the losers played each other for the bronze.

Preliminary round

All times are BST (UTC+1).

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	3	2	1	0	33	26	+7	5
United States	3	2	1	0	30	28	+2	5
Hungary	3	1	0	2	35	37	−2	2
China	3	0	0	3	22	29	−7	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

30 July 2012 14:10	Report	Spain	11–6	China	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Alan Balfanbayev (KAZ), Cory Williams (NZL)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–2, 4–2, 1–0
		Espar 3	Goals	Ma Huanhuan 3

30 July 2012 19:40	Report	Hungary	13–14	United States	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Brian Littlejohn (GBR), Denis Danelon (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 4–4, 2–3, 4–3
		Bujka 4	Goals	Steffens 7

1 August 2012 14:10	Report	Hungary	11–10	China	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Svetlana Dreval (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 4–4, 4–3, 2–0
		Szűcs 4	Goals	four players 2

1 August 2012 18:20	Report	Spain	9–9	United States	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Marie Deslieres (CAN), Anton Bervoets (NED)
		Score by quarters:3–1, 2–2, 1–4, 3–2
		Pareja 4	Goals	Craig 4

3 August 2012 14:10	Report	Spain	13–11	Hungary	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Svetlana Dreval (RUS)
		Score by quarters:4–3, 3–2, 3–2, 3–4
		Espar 3	Goals	Antal 4

3 August 2012 19:40	Report	China	6–7	United States	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Marijo Brguljan (MNE)
		Score by quarters:1–0, 2–2, 0–3, 3–2
		Sun Yating, Ma Huanhuan 2	Goals	Steffens 3

Group B

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Australia	3	3	0	37	19	+18	6
Russia	3	2	1	22	21	+1	4
Italy	3	1	2	22	22	0	2
Great Britain	3	0	3	14	33	−19	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

30 July 2012 15:30	Report	Italy	8–10	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Steven Rotsart (USA), Gyorgy Juhasz (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 3–2, 0–4, 4–2
		Di Mario, Radicchi 2	Goals	Gynther 3

30 July 2012 18:20	Report	Great Britain	6–7	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Marie Deslieres (CAN), Ni Shiwei (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–2, 0–1, 1–1
		Winstanley-Smith 3	Goals	Beliaeva, Prokofyeva 2

1 August 2012 15:30	Report	Italy	4–7	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Sergi Sanchez (ESP), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 0–1, 1–1, 1–4, 2–1
		Di Mario 2	Goals	Lisunova 3

1 August 2012 19:40	Report	Great Britain	3–16	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Gus Pinker (RSA), Denis Danelon (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 1–3, 1–5, 0–5
		Wilcox 2	Goals	Webster 5

3 August 2012 15:30	Report	Russia	8–11	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Dragan Stampalja (CRO), Marie Deslieres (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 4–6, 1–2, 1–0, 2–3
		Lisunova 3	Goals	Gynther 2

3 August 2012 18:20	Report	Great Britain	5–10	Italy	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: German Moller (ARG), Kazuhiko Makita (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 1–2, 1–2, 1–2
		Gibson-Byrne 2	Goals	Emmolo, Di Mario 3

Final round

Final bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Gold medal match

A1

Spain

9

B4

Great Britain

7

A1

Spain

10

A3

Hungary

9

A3

Hungary

11

B2

Russia

10

Spain

5

United States

8

A2

United States

9

B3

Italy

6

A2

United States

11

Bronze medal match

B1

Australia

9

A4

China

18

Australia

13

B1

Australia

20

4

Hungary

11

5th place bracket

5th–8th place classification		5th place match



Russia	11

Great Britain	9
		China	16

		Russia	15
Italy	10

China	14
		7th place match



		Italy	11

		Great Britain	7

Quarterfinals

All times are BST (UTC+1).

5 August 2012 14:50	Report	Hungary	11–10	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Massimiliano Caputi (ITA), Marijo Mrguljan (MNE)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 4–2, 1–3, 3–2
		four players 2	Goals	Ivanova 4

5 August 2012 16:10	Report	China	18–20	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Dragan Stampalija (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 5–5, 3–3, 4–2, 2–4 OT: 1–2, 1–0 PSO: 2–4
		Ma Huanhuan 4	Goals	Ralph, Zagame 3

5 August 2012 19:00	Report	United States	9–6	Italy	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Mihajlo Ćirić (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–0, 0–1, 3–2
		Seidemann 3	Goals	Di Mario 3

5 August 2012 20:20	Report	Spain	9–7	Great Britain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Cory Williams (NZL), Gus Pinker (RSA)
		Score by quarters:3–2, 3–0, 2–3, 1–2
		Miranda, Espar 2	Goals	Painter-Snell 3

5th–8th place classification

All times are BST (UTC+1).

7 August 2012 14:10	Report	Italy	10–14	China	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Svetlana Dreval (RUS), Anton Bervoets (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2–5, 2–5, 2–2, 4–2
		Di Mario 4	Goals	six players 2

7 August 2012 18:20	Report	Russia	11–9	Great Britain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Denis Danelon (BRA), German Moller (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 1–2, 4–2, 3–2
		Prokofyeva 4	Goals	Wilcox, Painter-Snell 3

Semifinals

All times are BST (UTC+1).

7 August 2012 15:30	Report	United States	11–9	Australia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Ulrich Spiegel (GER), Marie Deslieres (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–2, 1–1, 2–3 OT:2–0, 0–0
		Steffens 4	Goals	Southern 4

7 August 2012 19:40	Report	Hungary	9–10	Spain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Dragan Stampalija (CRO), Massimiliano Caputi (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 1–2, 4–5, 2–2, 2–1
		three players 2	Goals	Espar 4

7th place match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 14:30	Report	Italy	11–7	Great Britain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Gyorgy Juhasz (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 4–0, 3–2, 2–2
		Di Mario 4	Goals	McCann, Clayton 2

5th place match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 15:50	Report	China	16–15	Russia	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Brian Littlejohn (GBR), Steven Rotsart (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 5–6, 3–2, 3–3 OT:1–0, 1–1
		Ma Huanhuan 6	Goals	Fedotova, Antonova 4

Bronze medal match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 18:40	Report	Australia	13–11	Hungary	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Dragan Stampalija (CRO)
		Score by quarters:2–1, 5–3, 3–4, 1–3 OT:1–0, 1–0
		Beadsworth 4	Goals	Keszthelyi 3

Gold medal match

All times are BST (UTC+1).

9 August 2012 20:25	Report	United States	8–5	Spain	Water Polo Arena, London Referees: Marie Deslieres (CAN), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 1–1, 4–1, 2–0, 1–3
		Steffens 5	Goals	Pareja 3

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

Rank^[1]	Team
	United States
	Spain
	Australia
4	Hungary
5	China
6	Russia
7	Italy
8	Great Britain

2012 Women's Olympic champions
United States First title

Multi-time Olympians

Four-time Olympian(s): 3 players

Russia: Sofia Konukh ^[4]
United States: Heather Petri,^[5] Brenda Villa ^[6]

Three-time Olympian(s): 6 players

Australia: Kate Gynther,^[7] Melissa Rippon ^[8]
Hungary: Rita Drávucz ^[9]
Italy: Tania Di Mario,^[10] Elena Gigli (GK),^[11] Anikó Pelle ^[12]

Multiple medalists

Four-time Olympic medalist(s): 2 players

United States: Heather Petri,^[5] Brenda Villa ^[6]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Shots	%
1	Maggie Steffens	21	27	78
2	Ma Huanhuan	19	53	36
3	Tania Di Mario	18	45	40
4	Anni Espar	15	41	37
5	Nicola Zagame	12	16	75
	Barbara Bujka	12	26	46
	Dóra Antal	12	32	37
	Ashleigh Southern	12	32	37
	Gabriella Szűcs	12	32	37
	Jennifer Pareja	12	34	35
	Rowie Webster	12	42	29

Medallists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
United States (USA)^[1] Elizabeth Armstrong Heather Petri Melissa Seidemann Brenda Villa Lauren Wenger Maggie Steffens Courtney Mathewson Jessica Steffens Elsie Windes Kelly Rulon Annika Dries Kami Craig Tumuaialii Anae Head coach: Adam Krikorian	Spain (ESP) Laura Ester Marta Bach Anni Espar Roser Tarragó Matilde Ortiz Jennifer Pareja Lorena Miranda Pilar Peña Andrea Blas Ona Meseguer Maica García Laura López Ana Copado Head coach: Miki Oca	Australia (AUS) Victoria Brown Gemma Beadsworth Sophie Smith Holly Lincoln-Smith Jane Moran Bronwen Knox Rowena Webster Kate Gynther Glencora Ralph Ashleigh Southern Melissa Rippon Nicola Zagame Alicia McCormack Head coach: Greg McFadden

Awards

The women's all-star team was announced on 9 August 2012.^[13]^[14]

Most Valuable Player

Maggie Steffens ^[15] (21 goals)

Media All-Star Team

Goalkeeper
- Elizabeth Armstrong (53 saves)
Field players
- Barbara Bujka (centre forward, left-handed, 12 goals)
- Anni Espar (15 goals)
- Holly Lincoln-Smith (centre back, 5 goals)
- Jennifer Pareja (12 goals, 21 sprints won)
- Maggie Steffens (21 goals)
- Nicola Zagame (12 goals, 4 sprints won)

Related Research Articles

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.

The 2006 FINA Women's Water Polo World Cup was the fourteenth edition of the event, organised by the world's governing body in aquatics, the International Swimming Federation (FINA). The event took place in Tianjin, PR China from August 8 to August 13, 2006. Participating teams were the eight best teams from the last World Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (2005). The top-five qualified for the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

The women's water polo tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested between August 16 and August 26 at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. Eight teams qualified for the Games, with Italy defeating the host nation Greece for the gold medal. The United States won the bronze medal.

The women's water polo tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from 11 August to 21 August at the Ying Tung Natatorium.

Kate Maree Gynther is an Australian water polo player. She plays for the Brisbane Barracudas in the National Water Polo League. She represented Australia as a member of the women's senior national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal at the 2008 and 2012 Games. She is a leading goalscorer in Olympic water polo history, with 30 goals. She was the joint top sprinter at the 2012 Olympics with 21 sprints won; and a leading sprinter in Olympic water polo history, with 39 sprints won. She has also won a bronze medal at the 2005 Super League Finals.

The men's tournament of water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics at London, Great Britain, began on 29 July and lasted until 12 August 2012. All games were held at the Water Polo Arena.

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This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the United States women's national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.

This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the Australia women's national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.

This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the Hungary women's national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.

This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the Russia women's national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.

References

1 2 3 "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
↑ "Draw announced for Olympic Water Polo competition". Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
↑ "London 2012 – Water Polo Competition Schedule". FINA. Archived from the original on 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2012-06-12.
↑ "Sofia Konukh". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
1 2 "Heather Petri". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
1 2 "Brenda Villa". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "Kate Gynther". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "Melissa Rippon". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "Rita Drávucz". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "Tania Di Mario". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "Elena Gigli". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "Anikó Pelle". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
↑ "2012 London Olympics, Water Polo: Women's All Star Team Named". swimmingworldmagazine.com. Swimming World. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
↑ "USA Women Win GOLD! Team USA Tops Spain 8-5 In Olympic Games Final". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
↑ "Maggie STEFFENS Steffens". fina.org. FINA . Retrieved 16 December 2020.

Sources

PDF documents on the FINA website:
- Official Results Book – 2012 Olympic Games – Diving, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (archive) (pp. 284–507)
Water polo on the Olympedia website
- Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics (women's tournament)
Water polo on the Sports Reference website
- Water polo at the 2012 Summer Games (women's tournament) (archived)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[HistoFINA_PDF-1] 1 2 3 "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.

[2] "Draw announced for Olympic Water Polo competition". Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-06-12.

[3] "London 2012 – Water Polo Competition Schedule". FINA. Archived from the original on 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2012-06-12.

[Sofia_Konukh_OP-4] "Sofia Konukh". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Heather_Petri_OP-5] 1 2 "Heather Petri". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Brenda_Villa_OP-6] 1 2 "Brenda Villa". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Kate_Gynther_OP-7] "Kate Gynther". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Melissa_Rippon_OP-8] "Melissa Rippon". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Rita_Drávucz_OP-9] "Rita Drávucz". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Tania_Di_Mario_OP-10] "Tania Di Mario". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Elena_Gigli_OP-11] "Elena Gigli". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Anikó_Pelle_OP-12] "Anikó Pelle". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.

[Women's_all-star_team_2012_SWM-13] "2012 London Olympics, Water Polo: Women's All Star Team Named". swimmingworldmagazine.com. Swimming World. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[Women's_all-star_team_2012_USAWP-14] "USA Women Win GOLD! Team USA Tops Spain 8-5 In Olympic Games Final". usawaterpolo.org. USA Water Polo. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2020.

[Maggie_Steffens_FINA-15] "Maggie STEFFENS Steffens". fina.org. FINA . Retrieved 16 December 2020.

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Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

Contents

Format

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Final round

Quarterfinals

5th–8th place classification

Semifinals

7th place match

5th place match

Bronze medal match

Gold medal match

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

Multi-time Olympians

Multiple medalists

Top goalscorers

Medallists

Awards

See also

Related Research Articles

References

Sources

Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Tournaments
	men	women
Rosters
	men	women
v t e