Comprehensive results by tournament

Notes:

• Results of Olympic qualification tournaments are not included. Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games.
• At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, but only American contestants participated. Currently the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Swimming Federation (FINA) consider water polo event as part of unofficial program in 1904.
• Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

More information Men's team, Years ...

Men's team[1]	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	12	16	20	Years
Spain		—	—	—	7	10	9		—	8	8	—			9	10		4	4	6	2	1	4	6	5	6	7	Q	18
Total teams	7		4	6	12	13	14	5	16	18	21	10	16	13	15	16	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

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Number of appearances

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Men's team, Apps ...

Men's team[1]	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best finish	Confederation
Spain	18	11	11	1920	2020	Champions	Europe – LEN

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Best finishes

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Men's team, Best finish ...

Men's team[1]	Best finish	Apps	Confederation
Spain	Champions (1996)	18	Europe – LEN

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Finishes in the top four

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Men's team, Total ...

Men's team[1]	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last
Spain	5	1 (1996)	1 (1992*)		3 (1980, 1984, 2000)	1980	2000

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Medal table

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

More information Men's team, Gold ...

Men's team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Spain (ESP)	1	1	0	2

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Multiple appearances

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic appearances (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of birth (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

• Number of six-time Olympians: 1
• Number of five-time Olympians: 3
• Number of four-time Olympians: 7
• Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• CUB – Cuba
• ESP – Spain

Note:

• Xavier García is listed in Croatia men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics.

Multiple medalists

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of receiving the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

• Number of four-time Olympic medalists: 0
• Number of three-time Olympic medalists: 0
• Last updated: 1 May 2021.

Top goalscorers

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total goals (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

• Number of goalscorers (50+ goals): 1
• Number of goalscorers (40–49 goals): 2
• Number of goalscorers (30–39 goals): 4
• Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• BRA – Brazil
• CUB – Cuba
• ESP – Spain

Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1920–1928, 1948–1952, 1968–1972, 1980–1996;
• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 46, 49, 54, 65, 67, 70, 74–75), 2004 (pp. 227–228), 2008 (pp. 193–194), 2012 (pp. 474–475), 2016 (pp. 112–113).

Goalkeepers

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), cap number or name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively.

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• Eff % – Save efficiency (Saves / Shots)

More information Year, Cap No. ...

Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	ISHOF member	Note	Ref
1920		Luis Gibert	1903	17		Starting goalkeeper	[20]
		(Unknown)
1924		Jaime Cruells	1906	18		Starting goalkeeper	[21]
		(Unknown)
1928		Gonzalo Jiménez	1902	26		Starting goalkeeper	[22]
		(Unknown)
1948		Joan Serra	1927	20		Starting goalkeeper	[23]
		(Unknown)
1952		Leandro Ribera Abad	1934	17		Starting goalkeeper	[24]
		(Unknown)
1968	1	Luis Bestit	1945	23			[25]
	11	Vicente Brugat	1947	20			[26]
1972	1	Salvador Franch	1949	23			[27]
	11	Luis Bestit (2)	1945	27			[25]
1980	1	Manuel Delgado	1955	25			[28]
	11	Salvador Franch (2)	1949	31			[27]
1984	1	Leandro Ribera Perpiñá	1962	22			[29]
	13	Mariano Moya	1963	20			[30]
1988	1	Jesús Rollán	1968	20	2012		[5]
	11	Mariano Moya (2)	1963	24			[30]
1992	1	Jesús Rollán (2)	1968	24	2012	Starting goalkeeper	[5]
	12	Manuel Silvestre	1965	27			[31]
Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	ISHOF member	Note	Ref

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More information Year, Cap No. ...

Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Saves	Shots	Eff %	ISHOF member	Note	Ref
1996	1	Jesús Rollán (3)	1968	28	62	110	56.4%	2012	Starting goalkeeper	[5]
	4	Ángel Andreo	1972	23	0	0	—			[9]
2000	1	Jesús Rollán (4)	1968	32	58	116	50.0%	2012	Starting goalkeeper	[5]
	2	Ángel Andreo (2)	1972	27	0	0	—			[9]
2004	1	Jesús Rollán (5)	1968	36	5	7	71.4%	2012		[5]
	2	Ángel Andreo (3)	1972	31	50	92	54.3%		Starting goalkeeper	[9]
2008	1	Iñaki Aguilar	1983	24	58	107	54.2%		Starting goalkeeper	[32]
	13	Ángel Andreo (4)	1972	35	1	4	25.0%			[9]
2012	1	Iñaki Aguilar (2)	1983	28	52	98	53.1%			[32]
	13	Daniel López	1980	32	26	54	48.1%			[33]
2016	1	Iñaki Aguilar (3)	1983	32	16	26	61.5%			[32]
	13	Daniel López (2)	1980	36	63	115	54.8%		Starting goalkeeper	[33]
2020	1	Daniel López (3)	1980	41						[33]
	13	Unai Aguirre	2002	19						[34]
Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Saves	Shots	Eff %	ISHOF member	Note	Ref

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Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1996 (pp. 57–61, 70–71, 73);
• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 46, 49, 54, 65, 67, 70, 74–75), 2004 (pp. 227–228), 2008 (pp. 193–194), 2012 (pp. 474–475), 2016 (pp. 112–113).

Top sprinters

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total sprints won (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the sprinter (in ascending order), respectively.

* Number of sprinters (30+ sprints won, since 2000): 0

• Number of sprinters (20–29 sprints won, since 2000): 1
• Number of sprinters (10–19 sprints won, since 2000): 1
• Number of sprinters (5–9 sprints won, since 2000): 1
• Last updated: 15 May 2021.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• Eff % – Efficiency (Sprints won / Sprints contested)

Source:

• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 46, 49, 54, 65, 67, 70, 74–75), 2004 (pp. 227–228), 2008 (pp. 193–194), 2012 (pp. 474–475), 2016 (pp. 112–113).

Note:

• Xavier García is listed in Croatia men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics.

Medals as coach and player

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the person (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Spanish water polo player Miki Oca won a silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Four years later, he won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. As a head coach, he guided Spain women's national water polo team to a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.^[37]

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

More information Rk, Person ...

Rk	Person	Birth	Height	Player				Head coach			Total medals				Ref
				Age	Men's team	Pos	Medal	Age	Women's team	Medal	G	S	B	T
1	Miki Oca	1970	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	22–26	Spain	FP	1992* , 1996	42	Spain	2012	1	2	0	3	[37]

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1996 Summer Olympics

• Edition of men's tournament: 22nd
• Host city: Atlanta, United States
• Number of participating teams: 12
• Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
• Champion:  Spain (1st title; 3rd place in preliminary A group)

More information Match, Round ...

Match	Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Goals for	Goals against	Goal diff.
Match 1/8	Preliminary round – Group A	20 July 1996	Germany	Won	9	3	6
Match 2/8	Preliminary round – Group A	21 July 1996	Netherlands	Won	8	7	1
Match 3/8	Preliminary round – Group A	22 July 1996	Yugoslavia[lower-alpha 1]	Lost	7	9	–2
Match 4/8	Preliminary round – Group A	23 July 1996	Hungary	Lost	7	8	–1
Match 5/8	Preliminary round – Group A	24 July 1996	Russia	Won	8	6	2
Match 6/8	Quarter-finals	26 July 1996	United States	Won	5	4	1
Match 7/8	Semi-finals	27 July 1996	Hungary	Won	7	6	1
Match 8/8	Gold medal match	28 July 1996	Croatia	Won	7	5	2
Total	Matches played: 8 • Wins: 6 • Ties: 0 • Defeats: 2 • Win %: 75.0%				58	48	10

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Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1996 (p. 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 70, 71, 73).

• Head coach: Juan Jané (1st title as head coach)
• Assistant coach: Santiago Fernandez de Cuevas

Sources:

• Official Reports (PDF): 1996 (p. 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 70, 71, 73);
• Olympedia: 1996 (men's tournament);
• Sports Reference: 1996 (men's tournament);
• ISHOF.

Source: Official Reports (PDF): 1996 (p. 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 70, 71, 73).

Flag bearers

Some sportspeople were chosen to carry the national flag of their country at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, one male water polo player was given the honour to carry the flag for Spain.

Six-time Olympian Manuel Estiarte of Spain was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.^[2]

Legend

•  2008 O  – Opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics
•  2012 C  – Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics
•     – Hosts
• Flag bearer^‡ – Flag bearer who won the tournament with his team

More information #, Year ...

Water polo people who were flag bearers at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games

#	Year	Country	Flag bearer	Birth	Age	Height	Team	Pos	Water polo tournaments						Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
									1	2	3	4	5	6		G	S	B	T
1	2000 O	Spain	Manuel Estiarte	1961	38	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Spain	FP	1980	1984	1988	1992	1996	2000	20 years (18/38)	1	1	0	2	[2]

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Oath takers

Some sportspeople from the host nations were chosen to take the Olympic Oath at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, one water polo referee from Spain was given the honour.^[38]

Eugeni Asensio, a Spanish water polo referee, took the Officials' Oath at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.^[39]

Legend

•     – Hosts
• Oath taker^‡ – Oath taker who won the tournament with his team

More information #, Year ...

Water polo people who were oath takers at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games

#	Year	Oath	Country	Oath taker	Birth	Age	Water polo tournament			Ref
2	1992	Officials' Oath	Spain	Eugeni Asensio			1992		As referee (official)	[39]

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