Women's National Water Polo Team (2004)

Silver Medal, August 26, 2004, Women’s National Team, Water Polo. Athens 2004

After 108 years in the history of the Olympic Games, Greece won its first medal in a team sport in Athens, thanks to the women polo players who reached the final. In the first match of the tournament, Greece beat Kazakhstan 8:6 after suffering a heavy 2:7 loss to Italy earlier. Koulis Iosifides’ team reached the quarterfinals with a 7:7 draw against Australia, where they entered the round of the best four after an excellent performance with a 7:4 win against Russia. The dream of participating in a grand final could come true. And that happened with a 6-2 win over Australia, who had secured a 7-7 draw in the group matches. In the grand final, the opponent was Italy, who had defeated the USA 6-5 in the semifinals. The final turned into a nail-biting derby, and the score was tied 7-7 after regulation time.
In overtime, Greece was on the verge of winning the gold medal after taking a 9-7 lead but could not hold on to it. So the Italian team won with 9:10.
The final ranking: Italy – Greece – USA – Australia – Russia – Hungary – Canada – Kazakhstan