Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics

Water polo
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Tournament details
Host country	United Kingdom
City	London
Venue(s)	Water Polo Arena
Dates	29 July - 12 August 2012
Events	2 (men's, women's)
Teams	12 (men's), 8 (women's); (from 4 confederations)
Competitors	155 men, 102 women
Final positions
Champions	Croatia (men); United States (women)
Runners-up	Italy (men); Spain (women)
Third place	Serbia (men); Australia (women)
Fourth place	Montenegro (men); Hungary (women)
Tournament statistics (men, women)
Matches	66
Goals scored	1,231 (18.65 per match)
Multiple; appearances	5-time Olympian(s): 3 players; 4-time Olympian(s): 17 players
Multiple; medalists	4-time medalist(s): 2 players; 3-time medalist(s): 5 players
MVPs	Josip Pavić (men's); Maggie Steffens (women's)
	← 2008 2016 →

The water polo tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the London 2012 Water Polo Arena in the Olympic Park from 29 July to 12 August. The venue's capacity held 5,000 spectators. Twelve teams competed in the men's tournament and eight teams in the women's tournament.^[1]

Qualification

Both of Great Britain's teams automatically qualified, while the African qualification tournament was cancelled due as no teams entered, increasing the available spots at each final qualification tournament to four.^[2]^[3]

Men

Means of qualification	Date	Venue	Number of berths	Nation(s) qualified
Host nation	–	–	1	Great Britain
2011 World League Super-Final	21–26 June 2011	Florence, Italy	1	Serbia
2011 FINA World Championships	16–31 July 2011	Shanghai, China	3	Italy Croatia Hungary
2011 Pan American Games	23–29 October 2011	Guadalajara, Mexico	1	United States
2012 Asian Water Polo Championship	23–29 January 2012	Chiba City, Japan	1	Kazakhstan
Oceania	–	–	1	Australia
World Qualification Tournament	1–8 April 2012	Edmonton, Canada^[4]	4	Montenegro Spain Greece Romania
Total			12

Women

Means of qualification	Date	Venue	Number of berths	Nation(s) qualified
Host nation	–	–	1	Great Britain
2011 Pan American Games	23–28 October 2011	Guadalajara, Mexico	1	United States
2012 Asian Water Polo Championship	23–29 January 2012	Chiba City, Japan	1	China
Oceania	–	–	1	Australia
World Qualification Tournament	15–22 April 2012	Trieste, Italy^[4]	4	Spain Italy Russia Hungary
Total			8

Draw

The draw for the Olympic tournament took place in May 2012. The men were drawn into two groups of six teams, the women were drawn into two groups of four teams.^[5]

Men's competition

Group A	Group B
Greece Italy Kazakhstan Spain Australia Croatia	Hungary Montenegro Romania Great Britain United States Serbia

Women's competition

Group A	Group B
Hungary Spain China United States	Italy Great Britain Russia Australia

Medal summary

Medal table

Events

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men	Croatia (CRO)^[1] Josip Pavić Damir Burić Miho Bošković Nikša Dobud Maro Joković Petar Muslim Ivan Buljubašić Andro Bušlje Sandro Sukno Samir Barać Igor Hinić Paulo Obradović Frano Vićan	Italy (ITA) Stefano Tempesti Amaurys Pérez Niccolò Gitto Pietro Figlioli Alex Giorgetti Maurizio Felugo Massimo Giacoppo Valentino Gallo Christian Presciutti Deni Fiorentini Matteo Aicardi Danijel Premuš Giacomo Pastorino	Serbia (SRB) Slobodan Soro Aleksa Šaponjić Živko Gocić Vanja Udovičić Dušan Mandić Duško Pijetlović Slobodan Nikić Milan Aleksić Nikola Rađen Filip Filipović Andrija Prlainović Stefan Mitrović Gojko Pijetlović
Women	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 Tumua Anae	Spain (ESP) Laura Ester Marta Bach Anni Espar Roser Tarragó Matilde Ortiz Jennifer Pareja Lorena Miranda María del Pilar Peña Andrea Blas Ona Meseguer María García Godoy Laura López Ana Copado	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

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
^ "Water Polo qualification" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
^ "2012 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
^ ^a ^b "FINA selects Catania, Casablanca as future host cities; Creates Open Water "School for Officials"". Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
^ "Draw announced for Olympic Water Polo competition". Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

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 (men's tournament, women's tournament)
Water polo on the Sports Reference website
- Water polo at the 2012 Summer Games (men's tournament, women's tournament) (archived)

External links

Media related to Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics at Wikimedia Commons

Water polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics. London2012.com. at the UK Government Web Archive (archived 28 February 2013)
Official results book – Water Polo. London2012.com. at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 April 2013)
Water Polo at the 2012 Summer Olympics at SR/Olympics (archived)

[HistoFINA_PDF-1] "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. pp. 4, 56. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.

[2] "Water Polo qualification" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2011.

[3] "2012 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.

[swimmingworldmagazine-4] "FINA selects Catania, Casablanca as future host cities; Creates Open Water "School for Officials"". Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2011.

[5] "Draw announced for Olympic Water Polo competition". Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.

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v t e 2011–12 in international water polo
September	Four Nations (women) GBR Women's European Championship Qualifiers: Matchday 5
October	Pan American Games (men) MEX Pan American Games (women) MEX Men's European Championship Qualifiers: Playoffs Women's European Championship Qualifiers: Matchday 6
November	Men's World League: Europe Matchday 1
December	Men's World League: Europe Matchday 2 Canada Cup (women) CAN Tom Hoad Cup (men) AUS
January	Men's World League: Europe Matchday 3 Mithat Hantal Trophy (men) TUR Volvo Cup (men) HUN Samartzidis Cup (men) GRE Thetis Cup (women) GRE Pan-Pacific Championships AUS European Championships (men) NED European Championships (women) NED Asian Championship JPN
February	Holiday Cup (women) USA Men's World League: Europe Matchday 4 Women's World League: Americas USA
March	Men's World League: Europe Matchdays 5 and 6 South American Championships BRA Four Nations (men) USA Six Nations (men) CZE Kirishi Cup (women) RUS
April	Olympic Games Qualification Tournament (men) CAN Olympic Games Qualification Tournament (women) ITA
May	Water Polo Olympic Test Event (women) GBR Men's World League: Americas USA Men's World League: Asia/Oceania CHN JPN Women's World League: Asia/Oceania CHN JPN Women's World League: Europe GRE ITA Men's World League: Asia/Oceania CHN JPN Women's World League: Super Final CHN
June	Men's World League: Super Final KAZ Women's World League: Super Final CHN
July–August	Olympic Games GBR