August 10, 2024; Nanterre, France; Dutch rider Sabrina van der Sloot (4) competes for the bronze medal during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at Stade La Défense in Paris Scored a goal with one second left to take the lead. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports PARIS — Spain celebrated its first gold medal in women’s water polo at the Olympics on Saturday by defeating Australia 11-9, erasing defeats in the finals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and London 2012 Olympic Games.
Micah Godoy put Spain ahead 11-7 with a goal late in the fourth quarter, and although Australia pulled within two points, Australia ran out of time.
The third time proved Spain’s charm, with a 14-5 defeat in Tokyo three years ago and an 8-5 loss to the United States in London more than a decade later.
Australia was the inaugural champion at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Although it missed out on its first gold medal in 24 years, it won its first medal since the bronze medal at the London Olympics.
This time, however, Team USA did not win a medal. Team USA has never been left out of the podium in women’s water polo.
In the bronze medal game, Sabrina van der Sloot scored with less than a second left to help the Netherlands beat the United States 11-10.
Her game-winning goal sparked an incredible comeback for the Netherlands, who trailed 9-6 in the final period but scored five straight goals to beat the three-time champions.
In the 2008 Beijing final, the Netherlands defeated the United States 9-8 to win the gold medal, their first medal in 16 years.
“I’m kind of shocked,” U.S. attacker Maddie Musselman said.
“It just goes to show how important it is to stay in the moment and we didn’t take full advantage of that today.”
U.S. head coach Adam Krikorian said he was “sad” for his team but extremely proud of his players.
“They gave it their all today. They did everything they could,” he said, adding that the opponent “was obviously the better team today … and that’s going to hurt for a while.”
Van der Sloot, 33, scored six goals on seven shots and scored twice in the final period to lead the Netherlands to victory.
With the score locked at 10-10, the Dutch called a timeout with 8 seconds remaining after winning a turnover.
When play resumed, Vandersloot took possession of the ball, faced a crowded U.S. goal, and launched a rocket that leapt out of the water and beat U.S. goalkeeper Ashley Johnson just inside the right post.
With 0.7 seconds left in the game, the American team had one last shot, but Johnson’s long shot was easily blocked in front of the cage.
——Reuters, on-site media special report
