Water polo at the 2000 Summer Olympics

The water polo competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia saw Hungary’s return to the gold medal platform and the introduction of the women’s tournament.^[1] The Australian women had lobbied the IOC hard for the inclusion of women’s water polo in the Olympics, including showing up at the airport dressed only in their swimsuits during one pre-Olympic visit by members of the IOC.

Water polo
at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad

Tournament details
Host country	Australia
City	Sydney
Venue(s)	Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre, Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Dates	16 September – 1 October 2000
Events	2 (men's, women's)
Teams	12 (men's), 6 (women's) (from 4 confederations)
Competitors	153 men, 78 women
Final positions
Champions	Hungary (men)  Australia (women)
Runners-up	Russia (men)  United States (women)
Third place	Yugoslavia (men)  Russia (women)
Fourth place	Spain (men)  Netherlands (women)
Tournament statistics (men, women)
Matches	68
Multiple appearances	6-time Olympian(s): 1 5-time Olympian(s): 2 4-time Olympian(s): 4
← 1996 2004 →

Six nations competed in the women’s tournament with home team Australia winning the gold medal over the United States. Twelve nations competed in the men’s tournament and played a total of 48 matches. Spain was unable to follow up their 1996 gold medal performance with a medal. Hungary defeated Russia for the gold medal. The matches were held at Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre and the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre.^[2]

Qualification[3]

Men

Events	Dates	Hosts	Quotas	Qualified Teams
Host Country	24 September 1993	Monte Carlo	1	Australia
1999 World Cup	28 September - 3 October 1999	Sydney	3	Hungary
				Italy
				Spain
1999 Pan American Games	23-30 July 1999	Winnipeg	1	United States
1999 European Championship	2-11 September 1999	Firenze	1	Croatia
2000 Asian Championship	28 March - 2 April 2000	Busan	1	Kazakhstan
Men's Olympic Water Polo Qualifying Tournament	6-14 May 2000	Hannover	5	Yugoslavia
				Russia
				Greece
				Slovakia
				Netherlands
Total			12

Women

Events		Dates	Hosts	Quotas	Qualified Teams
Host Country		24 September 1993	Monte Carlo	1	Australia
1999 World Cup	Europe	24-29 May 1999	Winnipeg	1	Netherlands
	Americas			1	Canada
Women's Olympic Water Polo Qualifying Tournament	World	22-30 April 2000	Palermo	2	Russia
					United States
	Asia/Africa/Oceania			1	Kazakhstan
Total				6

Medal summary

Medal table

  *   Host nation (Australia)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Australia*	1	0	0	1
	Hungary	1	0	0	1
3	Russia	0	1	1	2
4	United States	0	1	0	1
5	FR Yugoslavia	0	0	1	1
Totals (5 entries)		2	2	2	6

Medalists

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Men details	Hungary[1] Attila Vári Zoltán Szécsi Bulcsú Székely Zsolt Varga Tamás Märcz Tamás Molnár Barnabás Steinmetz Tamás Kásás Gergely Kiss Zoltán Kósz Tibor Benedek Péter Biros Rajmund Fodor	Russia Irek Zinnourov Dmitri Stratan Revaz Chomakhidze Marat Zakirov Nikolay Kozlov Nikolai Maximov Andrei Rekechinski Sergey Garbuzov Dmitry Gorshkov Yuri Yatsev Roman Balachov Dmitri Douquine Alexandre Erychov	FR Yugoslavia Predrag Zimonjić Jugoslav Vasović Vladimir Vujasinović Nenad Vukanić Aleksandar Šoštar Petar Trbojević Veljko Uskoković Nikola Kuljača Aleksandar Šapić Dejan Savić Aleksandar Ćirić Danilo Ikodinović Viktor Jelenić
Women details	Australia[1] Taryn Woods Debbie Watson Liz Weekes Danielle Woodhouse Bronwyn Mayer Gail Miller Melissa Mills Simone Hankin Yvette Higgins Kate Hooper Naomi Castle Joanne Fox Bridgette Gusterson	United States Brenda Villa Kathy Sheehy Coralie Simmons Julie Swail Courtney Johnson Maureen O'Toole Nicolle Payne Heather Petri Ericka Lorenz Heather Moody Bernice Orwig Robin Beauregard Ellen Estes	Russia Ekaterina Vassilieva Elena Smurova Elena Tokoun Irina Tolkounova Ioulia Petrova Tatiana Petrova Galina Rytova Maria Koroleva Natalia Koutouzova Svetlana Kouzina Marina Akobia Ekaterina Anikeeva Sofia Konoukh