Silver lining for Aussie Water Polo

The Australian Women’s Water Polo Team claimed the Olympic silver medal going down 11-9 to world number one Spain in a match where they never lost the “Aussie fighting spirit”.  

The performance rockets the Stingers into history as the sport’s second most successful team, eclipsed only by the gold medal side from the Sydney 2000 Games.

The Aussies remained undefeated in the preliminary rounds of the Paris tournament, downing Beijing 2008 champions Netherlands, Tokyo 2020 bronze medal winners Hungary, the People’s Republic of China and Canada. 

They claimed the scalps of Greece in the semi’s before downing water polo superpower the USA in a penalty shootout to reach the final.

The Australia Men’s Water Polo Team has emerged as the surprise success story early in the Games with wins over defending Olympic champion Serbia, France and Hungary.    

They lost their final preliminary match against Japan but managed a quarter-final berth against the United States – a first for the team since London 2012.

The Sharks were unable to maintain their winning momentum going down to the USA and Italy to finish eighth overall. A young team, with 10 Olympic debutants, the future looks bright for the Sharks.

Words courtesy of the Australian Olympic Committee