The United States team has won the water polo gold at the last seven Pan American Games. Canada and Brazil seek to maintain their presence on the podium as they have done in the last five Games.
A total of eight teams will participate in the water polo competition at Santiago 2023, which begins on October 30. Both the men’s and women’s teams will compete in two groups of four, playing round-robin matches. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semifinals, while the four teams that do not qualify for the medal competition will compete for fifth through eighth place.
This sport will be played at the Aquatic Center of the National Stadium Park in Santiago. The gold medal will provide a direct spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It also offers spots for the upcoming World Aquatics Championships in Doha 2024.
The United States team is the clear favorite in both men’s and women’s events, having won the gold medal every year since Buenos Aires in 1995 until the most recent games in Lima. They have reached the final in the last 17 games, winning 13 times. In the case of the women’s team, they have been Pan American champions consecutively since Santo Domingo in 2003, as well as Olympic champions, having won three consecutive titles and being four-time world champions.
Unsurprisingly, the United States leads the historical medal count with 18 gold, five silver and one bronze medal. They have never missed the Pan American podium. Argentina is next in line; although they won their two gold medals in the 1951 Buenos Aires and 1955 Mexico City games, no one has managed to accumulate more gold medals.
Mexico, Brazil and Cuba are the other teams with gold medals in this discipline, all winning the top spot when they host the Games. Canada is the team with the most third-place medals (6).
The other two clear candidates for the podium are Brazil and Canada, who have shared second and third place for five consecutive editions. Argentina is also a contender, as their performance has been on par with Canada and Brazil.
Chile’s men’s team will compete in the groups, as will the three best-placed teams from the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games: Cuba, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The men’s group stage is as follows:
Group A: United States, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Mexico
Group B: Canada, Argentina, Cuba, and Chile
The women’s group stage is as follows:
Group A: Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina
Group B: United States, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Chile
Source : Panam Sports
