Governing body FINA | Events 2 (men: 1; women: 1) | |
 | ||
Water polo has been part of the Summer Olympics program since the second games, in 1900. A women's water polo tournament was introduced for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Hungary, Italy, and the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavian teams have historically dominated the men's tournament, while Australia and the United States are the only teams to win multiple medals at the women's tournament since its introduction.
Contents
The most famous water polo match in history is probably the 1956 Summer Olympics semi-final match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, which became known as the "Blood in the Water match". As the athletes left for the games, the Hungarian revolution began, and the Soviet army crushed the uprising. The Hungarians defeated the Soviets 4–0 before the game was called off in the final minute to prevent angry Hungarians in the crowd reacting to Valentin Prokopov punching Ervin Zador's eye open.
Events
Men
(Note: Where applicable, numbers refer to the number of teams from each country; italic number in header means demonstration tournament was held)