Water Polo, Women

The women from the United States had won the last three editions of the Olympic water polo tournament and five of the last six editions of the World Championships. The Netherlands was the only other country in recent memory to reach the top of the podium, having done so at the 2023 Worlds. Thus, the Americans were heavy favorites in the 2024 Paris tournament, and they received additional global attention when rapper Flavor Flav lent his emotional and financial support to the team in the months leading up to the Games.

The United States was not, however, the strongest squad in the preliminaries, as they were bested by Spain, who was the only team to win every match in its group. Spain had been runner-up at the 2020 Tokyo Games, as well as at three of the last five editions of the World Championships. Both teams won their quarter-final games, but then Australia shocked spectators by edging past the Americans in a penalty shootout. The Australians would ultimately go on to lose the final to Spain 11-9, but the Dutch team offered a final surprise by defeating the United States 11-10, meaning that the American women missed the podium for the first time in Olympic history.