US women’s water polo team fail to win Olympic medal for first time in history

In a matter of days, the U.S. women’s water polo team went from chasing a historic gold medal to going home empty-handed. It was quite a fall.

The U.S. squandered another lead Saturday, losing 11-10 to the Netherlands on Sabrina van der Sloot’s last-second goal in the bronze medal match at the Paris Olympics. The U.S. was the only program to win a medal in every women’s water polo tournament at the Olympics since its inception in 2000.

“We’ve talked about just trying to learn from our mistakes and get better,” U.S. captain Maggie Steffens said. “And I feel like today we struggled to consistently learn from our mistakes.”

The U.S. arrived at the Paris Games seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal, while consistently downplaying the significance of the streak. Steffens was the only player left from the 2012 team and one of six returning from Tokyo.

No team – men’s or women’s – has won four consecutive water polo titles at the Olympics. France’s arduous finish only served to underscore the difficulty of the long-term program at the sport’s pinnacle.

“Everybody on the outside has no idea what this is like,” U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said. “And they have no idea how hard this is, how hard it is to win. We made it look easy, but it was anything but easy for those three Olympics.”

The first signs of trouble came during a 13-11 loss to Spain on July 29, when the U.S. struggled to contain Beatriz Ortiz in the third quarter. But the Americans responded with big wins over Italy and France.

The US also lost in the group stage in 2021, and then won four straight by a combined score of 63-26. This time, Steffens and co. couldn’t find that same level.

The Americans needed 17 saves from Ashleigh Johnson to get past Hungary in a 5-4 quarterfinal win. They led 5-2 at halftime and 8-6 early in the fourth quarter in their semifinal against Australia on Thursday, but lost 14-13 in a penalty shootout.

Against the Netherlands, it was more of the same. The American team led 7-3 at halftime, but the Netherlands outscored the Americans 5-1 in the final quarter of the game. Sabrina Vander Sloot scored the winning goal with just one second left on the clock to seal the stunning upset.

“I think we lost focus in a couple of key moments,” Johnson said, “and that can take away from the whole game. That can give the other team a lot of momentum. And it did. We relaxed a little bit, which is unfortunate.”

Krikorian’s future is one of the biggest questions for the U.S. program after the Paris Games. Jamie Davis takes over as CEO of USA Water Polo on Oct. 1, so a decision on the coaching front likely won’t be made for months.

Krikorian was on the verge of quitting his job after the US won gold in Tokyo, but after this year’s fourth-place finish, he openly wondered if it wasn’t time for a change.

“There are times when I feel like new leadership can be good,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, so your message can get a little boring at times.”

It’s also unclear what Steffens, Johnson and the rest of the U.S. veterans will do. The 2028 Olympics are in Los Angeles, the epicenter of U.S. water polo, giving an automatic spot to the U.S. program, which offers more flexibility for players’ training schedules.

But making the national team remains a huge challenge, and some of America’s successful stars may decide this is a good time to move on with their lives.

“Right now we have to be there. We have to be with our teammates,” said Steffens, the highest-scoring woman in Olympic history with 64 goals. “We have to feel the feelings, and as we go forward, we’ll see.”