This is a list of Olympic champions in women's water polo since the inaugural official edition in 2000.
Abbreviations
History
Women's water polo became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
As of 2016, women's teams from Europe, North America and Oceania won all five gold medals.
The United States is the most successful country in the women's Olympic water polo tournament, with two Olympic gold medals. The team won two gold in 2012 and 2016, becoming the first water polo team to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals.
The United States women's national team is current Olympic champion.
Legend
– Debut
– Champions
– Olympic winning streak (winning three or more Olympic titles in a row) – Hosts
Team statistics
Results
Squads
Olympic and world champions (teams)
The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic titles (in descending order), number of world titles (in descending order), name of the team (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 8 July 2022.
As of 2023, there are four women's national water polo teams that won gold medals at the Summer Olympics and the World Aquatics Championships.
Legend
Year* – As host team
Player statistics
Age records
The following tables show the oldest and youngest female Olympic champions in water polo. Last updated: 18 January 2021.
Legend
– Host team
Multiple gold medalists
The following tables are pre-sorted by year of receiving the last Olympic gold medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first Olympic gold medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 18 January 2021.
Four female athletes won two Olympic gold medals in water polo.
Legend
Year* – As host team
Olympic and world champions (players)
The following tables are pre-sorted by number of Olympic titles (in descending order), number of world titles (in descending order), year of receiving the last gold medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first gold medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 30 March 2021.
As of 2019, there are thirty female athletes who won gold medals in water polo at the Summer Olympics and the World Aquatics Championships.
Legend
Year* – As host team
Olympic champion families
The following tables are pre-sorted by year of receiving the Olympic gold medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 18 January 2021.
Legend
Year* – As host team
Coach statistics
Most successful coaches
The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic gold medal (in ascending order), name of the coach (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 18 January 2021.
There is only one coach who led women's national water polo team to win two or more Olympic gold medals.
Adam Krikorian coached the United States women's national team to two consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016.
Legend
Year* – As host team
Olympic and world champions (coaches)
The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic titles (in descending order), number of world titles (in descending order), year of winning the last gold medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first gold medal (in ascending order), name of the coach (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 30 March 2021.
As of 2019, there are two head coaches who led women's national teams to win gold medals in water polo at the Summer Olympics and the World Aquatics Championships.
Legend
Year* – As host team
Champions by tournament
2020 (United States, 3rd title) Edition of women's tournament: 6th Host city: Tokyo, Japan Number of participating teams: 10 Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches Champion: (3rd title, 1st place in preliminary B group
Source: Official Results Books (PDF): 2021
2016 (United States, 2nd title) * Edition of women's tournament: 5th Host city: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Number of participating teams: 8 Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches Champion: (2nd title; 1st place in preliminary B group)
Source: Official Results Books (PDF): 2016 (pp. 142, 148, 158, 168, 176, 184).
Head coach: Adam Krikorian (2nd title as head coach) Assistant coaches: Daniel Klatt, Chris Oeding