In a matter of days, the US girls’s water polo staff went from the pursuit of a historic gold medal to going dwelling empty-handed. It was fairly a fall.
The US blew one other lead on Saturday and misplaced 11-10 to the Netherlands on Sabrina van der Sloot’s last-second purpose within the bronze-medal recreation on the Paris Olympics. The US had been the one program to medal in every girls’s water polo event on the Olympics because it began in 2000.
“We’ve talked about simply making an attempt to be taught from our errors and getting higher,” US captain Maggie Steffens mentioned. “And I really feel right now we struggled to repeatedly be taught from our errors.”
The US arrived on the Paris Video games searching for an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal, whereas regularly downplaying the importance of the streak. Steffens was the one holdover from the 2012 staff, and one in all six returning gamers from Tokyo.
No staff – males’s or girls’s – has received 4 straight water polo titles on the Olympics. The tough end in France solely served to underline the problem of this system’s future on high of the game.
“Everybody on the surface has no concept what that is like,” US coach Adam Krikorian mentioned. “They usually do not know how tough that is, how onerous it’s to win. We made it look simple, but it surely was something however that for these three Olympic Video games.”
The primary indicators of bother surfaced throughout a 13-11 loss to Spain on 29 July, when the US struggled to include Beatriz Ortiz within the third quarter. However the Individuals responded with runaway victories over Italy and France.
The US additionally misplaced in group play in 2021, after which ripped off 4 straight wins by a mixed rating of 63-26. This time round, Steffens and firm have been unable to seek out that very same degree.
The Individuals wanted 17 saves from Ashleigh Johnson to slide by Hungary in a 5-4 victory within the quarter-finals. They led 5-2 at half-time and 8-6 early within the fourth quarter of their semi-final in opposition to Australia on Thursday, solely to fall 14-13 in a penalty shoot-out.
It was extra of the identical in opposition to the Netherlands. The US staff led 7-3 at half-time, however the Netherlands outscored the Individuals 5-1 within the last quarter of the match. Sabrina Vander Sloot scored the game-winning purpose with only one second remaining on the clock to seal the beautiful upset.
“I simply suppose that we misplaced focus in some key moments,” Johnson mentioned, “and that may take the entire recreation away. That can provide the opposite staff numerous momentum. And it did. We relaxed a bit of bit, which is unlucky.”
Krikorian’s future is among the many largest questions for the US program within the aftermath of the Paris Video games. Jamie Davis will take over as CEO of USA Water Polo on 1 October, so there possible received’t be a choice on the teaching entrance for months.
Krikorian almost left his place after the US received gold in Tokyo, and he overtly puzzled after this yr’s fourth-place end if it may be time for a change.
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“There’s moments by which I really feel like new management could also be good,” he mentioned. “I’ve been doing this a very long time, so your message typically will get a bit of stale in moments.”
It additionally stays to be seen what Steffens, Johnson and the remainder of the US veterans will do. The 2028 Olympics are in Los Angeles – the epicenter of American water polo – handing an computerized berth to the US program that gives extra flexibility for the gamers’ coaching schedule.
However competing for the nationwide staff stays a frightening problem, and a few of the embellished American stars may resolve this can be a good time to maneuver on with their lives.
“Proper now, we must be current. We must be with our teammates,” mentioned Steffens, the very best scoring girl in Olympics historical past with 64 objectives. “We have to really feel the feels, and transferring ahead, we’ll see.”
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