Water Polo - Team Australia

Nickname
The Stingers

General
Australia were the first women's Olympic water polo champions, claiming gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney thanks to a 4-3 victory in the final over the United States of America. The dramatic triumph, with Yvette Higgins scoring the winning goal just 1.3 seconds before the end of the match, remains their only Olympic title. After losing the bronze medal match in 2004, Australia claimed back-to-back bronze medals in 2008 and 2012.

At Rio 2016, the Australian team recorded two victories during the group stage, but lost 13-11 to Hungary in the quarterfinals. It was the first time Australia had failed to progress to the semifinals at the Olympic Games. The Stingers then won a classification match against hosts Brazil, before losing to Spain to rank sixth overall.

Australia were also the first women's world champions, having topped the round robin tournament at the world championships in 1986. That victory remains their only world title. They finished runners-up in 2007 and 2013 and claimed bronze in 1998 and 2019. A semifinal defeat to the United States of America at the 2019 World Championships was followed by a 10-9 victory over Hungary in the third place play-off.