NANTERRE, France — In a matter of days, the U.S. women's water polo team went from the pursuit of a historic gold medal to going home empty-handed.
It was quite a fall.
The U.S. blew another lead Saturday and lost 11-10 to the Netherlands on Sabrina van der Sloot's last-second goal in the bronze-medal game at the Paris Olympics. The U.S. had been the only program to medal in each women’s water polo tournament at the Olympics since it started in 2000.
“We’ve talked about just trying to learn from our mistakes and getting better,” U.S. captain Maggie Steffens said. “And I feel today we struggled to continually learn from our mistakes."
The U.S. arrived at the Paris Games in search of an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal, while continually downplaying the significance of the streak. Steffens was the only holdover from the 2012 team, and one of six returning players from Tokyo.
No team — men’s or women’s — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics. The rough finish in France only served to underline the difficulty of the program's long run on top of the sport.
“Everyone on the outside has no idea what this is like,” U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said. “And they have no idea how difficult this is, how hard it is to win. We made it look easy, but it was anything but that for those three Olympic Games.”
The first signs of trouble surfaced during a 13-11 loss to Spain on July 29, when the U.S. struggled to contain Bea Ortiz in the third quarter. But the Americans responded with runaway victories over Italy and France.
The U.S. also lost in group play in 2021, and then ripped off four straight wins by a combined score of 63-26. This time around, Steffens and company were unable to find that same level.
The Americans needed 17 saves by Ashleigh Johnson to slip by Hungary in a 5-4 victory in the quarterfinals. They led 5-2 at halftime and 8-6 early in the fourth quarter in their semifinal against Australia on Thursday, only to fall 14-13 in a penalty shootout.
It was more of the same against the Netherlands, which trailed 7-3 at halftime. The U.S was outscored 5-1 in the fourth quarter.
“I just think that we lost focus in some key moments,” Johnson said, “and that can take the whole game away. That can give the other team a lot of momentum. And it did. ... We relaxed a little bit, which is unfortunate.”
Krikorian's future was among the biggest questions for the U.S. program in the aftermath of the Paris Games. Jamie Davis takes over as CEO of USA Water Polo on Oct. 1, so there likely won't be a decision on the coaching front for months.
Krikorian nearly left his position after the U.S. won gold in Tokyo, and he openly wondered after this year's fourth-place finish if it might be time for a change.
“There's moments in which I feel like new leadership may be good,” he said. “I've been doing this a long time, so your message sometimes gets a little stale in moments.”
It also remains to be seen what Steffens, Johnson and the rest of the U.S. veterans decide to do. The 2028 Olympics are in Los Angeles — the epicenter of American water polo — handing an automatic berth to the U.S. program that provides more flexibility for the players' training schedule.
But competing for the national team remains a daunting challenge, and some of the decorated American stars could decide this is a good time to move on with their lives.
“Right now, we need to be present. We need to be with our teammates," said Steffens, the highest scoring woman in Olympics history with 64 goals. “We need to feel the feels, and moving forward, we'll see.”
