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
Sydney International Aquatic Centre
Dates16–23 September 2000
Teams6 (from 4 confederations)
Competitors78
Final positions
Champions Australia (1st title)
Runners-up United States
Third place Russia
Fourth place Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches20
Goals scored245 (12.25 per match)
Top scorer(s)Netherlands Daniëlle de Bruijn
Australia Bridgette Gusterson
Russia Sofia Konukh
(11 goals in 7 matches)
Most savesNetherlands Karla Plugge
(45 saves in 7 matches)
Top sprinter(s)Russia Tatiana Petrova
(16 sprints won in 7 matches)
→

The women's

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]

Event Dates Hosts Quota Qualifier(s)
Host nation — — 1  Australia
1999 FINA World Cup 24–29 May 1999 Canada Winnipeg 2  Canada
 Netherlands
2000 Women's Olympic Water Polo Qualifying Tournament 22–30 April 2000 Italy Palermo 3  Kazakhstan
 Russia
 United States
Total 6

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,

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

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia (H) 5 4 0 1 35 20 +15 8 Semi Finals
2  United States 5 3 1 1 36 30 +6 7
3  Netherlands 5 3 0 2 27 26 +1 6
4  Russia 5 2 1 2 36 29 +7 5
5  Canada 5 1 2 2 33 34 −1 4
6  Kazakhstan 5 0 0 5 23 51 −28 0
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  2–9  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Melliar (RSA), Rolf Ludecke (GER)
Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-2, 0-1, 0-4
two players 1 Goals Gusterson 3
16 September 2000
18:00 		Report Canada  7–7  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Ahmet Erhan Tulga (TUR), Patrick Clemenson (FRA)
Score by quarters: 2-3, 0-1, 2-2, 3-1
Dow 3 Goals two players 2
16 September 2000
19:15 		Report Netherlands  4–6  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
2 		Goals Lorenz 2
17 September 2000
13:00 		Report Australia  6–3  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Paraskevas Chasekioglou (GRE), Gad Schwartz (ISR)
Score by quarters: 2-1, 1-1, 2-1, 1-0
two players 2 Goals three players 1
17 September 2000
18:00 		Report United States  8–8  Canada Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Vlastimil Kratochvil (SVK)
Score by quarters: 3-3, 2-3, 0-2, 3-0
Beauregard 3 Goals Horn-Miller 3
17 September 2000
19:15 		Report Kazakhstan  6–8  Netherlands Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Dragan Rajevic (YUG), Juan Carlos Menéndez (CUB)
Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-2, 1-2, 1-2
Leshchuk 3 Goals two players 3
18 September 2000
13:00 		Report Netherlands  5–4  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
2 		Goals Higgins 3
18 September 2000
18:00 		Report Russia  5–7  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 1 Goals Simmons 3
18 September 2000
19:15 		Report Canada  10–3  Kazakhstan Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Rolf Ludecke (GER), Vahid Moradi (IRI)
Score by quarters: 3-1, 3-0, 1-2, 3-0
four players 2 Goals three players 1
19 September 2000
13:00 		Report United States  6–7  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Paraskevas Chasekioglou (GRE), Boris Margeta (SLO)
Score by quarters: 2-2, 1-0, 2-4, 1-1
two players 2 Goals Gusteron 2
19 September 2000
18:00 		Report Kazakhstan  6–15  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Gad Schwartz (ISR), Vlastimil Kratochvil (SVK)
Score by quarters: 1-5, 1-5, 3-3, 1-2
Aleyeva 2 Goals two players 3
19 September 2000
19:15 		Report Netherlands  7–4  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 2 Goals
Begin
2
20 September 2000
13:00 		Report Canada  4–9  Australia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Rolf Ludecke (GER), Patrick Clemencon (FRA)
Score by quarters: 0-1, 2-4, 1-2, 1-2
four players 1 Goals Hankin 3
20 September 2000
18:00 		Report Russia  6–3  Netherlands Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Ahmet Erhan Tulga (TUR), Gyorgy Csaszar (HUN)
Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-1, 3-0, 1-0
Konoukh
3 		Goals Kuipers 2
20 September 2000
19:15 		Report Kazakhstan  6–9  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 2 Goals Villa 4

Final round

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
22 September
 
 
 Australia7
 
23 September
 
 Russia6
 
 Australia4
 
22 September
 
 United States3
 
 United States6
 
 
 Netherlands5
 
Bronze medal
 
 
23 September
 
 
 Russia4
 
 
 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  7–6  Russia Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Rolf Helmut Ludecke (GER), Boris Margeta (SLO)
Score by quarters: 2-3, 1-1, 1-2, 3-0
Mayer 3 Goals
Tokoun
2
22 September 2000
19:15 		Report United States  6–5  Netherlands Ryde Aquatic Centre
Referees:
Renato Dani (ITA), Patrick Clemencon (FRA)
Score by quarters: 3-2, 1-3, 1-0, 1-0
two players 2 Goals two 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  9–8  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 2 Goals 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  4–3  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
2 		Goals 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

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 their first gold medal in women's water polo.[25][26]

23 September 2000
21:15 		Report Australia  4–3  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 1 Goals 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]

Rank Team
 Australia
 United States
 Russia
4  Netherlands
5  Canada
6  Kazakhstan

Medalists

Gold Silver Bronze
 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 		 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 		 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

References

  1. ^ "The long and winding road". Sydney: Olympics. 15 September 2000. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  2. ^ "Women Water Polo 12th World Cup 1999 Winnipeg". Todor66. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Historic women's field set to make waves". Sydney: Olympics. 14 September 2000. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  4. ^ "Women Water Polo Olympic Games 2000 Qualification Palermo (ITA)". Todor66. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  5. ^
    FINA. September 2019. p. 56. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. ^ Niall, Jake (17 September 2000). "Polished finish makes up for rusty start". The Age. p. 16. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Stubbs, Dave (17 September 2000). "Canucks battle back in pool war". Edmonton Journal. p. C6. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "United States opens with 6-4 win over Netherlands". 16 September 2000. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  9. ^ Niall, Jake (18 September 2000). "Russian maulers play 'rip the cossie but Australian women wrap up victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Stubbs, Dave (18 September 2000). "Canada squanders lead". Calgary Herald. Sydney. p. D20. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Netherlands beat Kazakhstan 8-6". 17 September 2000. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  12. ^ Niall, Jake (19 September 2000). "No cause for panic despite defeat". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 11. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "USA defeats Russia 7-5 to lead points table". 18 September 2000. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  14. Montreal Gazette. 19 September 2000. p. F4. Archived
    from the original on 15 October 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Niall, Jake (19 September 2000). "Women sink US to seal berth in semis". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 179. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Russian attack guns down Kazakhstan 15-6". 19 September 2000. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  17. ^ "Netherlands win third straight, 7-4 over Canada". 19 September 2000. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021 – via trove.org.
  18. ^ a b Niall, Jake (21 September 2000). "Final showdown with US looms in the pool". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 159. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  19. The Los Angeles Times. Sydney. p. B3. Archived
    from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Niall, Jake (23 September 2000). "Diehards put a miracle together out of courage". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 12. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Associated Press (23 September 2000). "Golden final: U.S. vs. Aussies". The Baltimore Sun. p. 12C. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Stubbs, David (22 September 2000). "Playing for pride, water polo team avoids last place". Calgary Herald. Sydney. p. C4. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Russia wins bronze medal over Netherlands". 23 September 2000. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021 – via trove.org.
  24. ^
    The Sunday Age. p. 4. Archived
    from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  25. The Los Angeles Times. Sydney. p. U4. Archived
    from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Roberts, Selena (24 September 2000). "Australia Stuns U.S. With a Last-Second Score". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.

Sources

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