# Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at the Olympic Aquatic Centre where women competed for only the second time in the event at the Summer Olympics.
Twelve teams competed in the men's event, where Russia was trying to avenge their defeat by Hungary at the Sydney Olympics. There were eight teams in the women's event, where holders Australia were hoping to retain the title.

## Qualification

| Nation | Men's | Women's | Athletes |
| Australia | | | 26 |
| Canada | | | 13 |
| Croatia | | | 13 |
| Egypt | | | 13 |
| Greece | | | 26 |
| Hungary | | | 26 |
| Italy | | | 26 |
| Kazakhstan | | | 26 |
| Russia | | | 26 |
| Serbia and Montenegro | | | 13 |
| Spain | | | 13 |
| United States | | | 26 |
| Total: 16 NOCs | 12 | 8 | 260 |

### Men`s

| Water Polo Men | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host nation | 5 September 1997 | Laussane | 1 | Greece |
| 2003 World League | 27 June-24 August 2003 | Various | 1 | Hungary |
| 2003 FINA World Championships | 14-26 July 2003 | Barcelona | 3 | Italy |
| 2003 FINA World Championships | 14-26 July 2003 | Barcelona | 3 | Serbia and Montenegro |
| 2003 FINA World Championships | 14-26 July 2003 | Barcelona | 3 | Spain |
| 2003 Pan American Games | 2-10 August 2003 | Santo Domingo | 1 | United States |
| Asian Qualification Tournament | 22-24 September 2003 | Almaty | 1 | Kazakhstan |
| African Qualification Tournament | — | — | 1 | Egypt |
| Oceania Qualification Tournament | — | — | 1 | Australia |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 25 January - 1 February | Rio de Janeiro | 3 | Croatia |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 25 January - 1 February | Rio de Janeiro | 3 | Germany |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 25 January - 1 February | Rio de Janeiro | 3 | Russia |
| TOTAL | | | 12 | |

### Women`s

| Water Polo Women | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host nation | 5 September 1997 | Laussane | 1 | Greece |
| Asian Qualification Tournament | 22-24 September 2003 | Almaty | 1 | Kazakhstan |
| 2003 Pan American Games | 2-10 August 2003 | Santo Domingo | 1 | United States |
| Oceanian Qualification Tournament | — | — | 1 | Australia |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 23-29 February 2004 | Imperia | 4 | Hungary |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 23-29 February 2004 | Imperia | 4 | Italy |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 23-29 February 2004 | Imperia | 4 | Russia |
| Olympic Qualification Tournament | 23-29 February 2004 | Imperia | 4 | Canada * |
| TOTAL | | | 8 | |
* Canada took the place of the African team.

## Medalists
### Men's

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| HungaryTibor Benedek Péter Biros Rajmund Fodor István Gergely Tamás Kásás Gergely Kiss Norbert Madaras Tamás Molnár Ádám Steinmetz Barnabás Steinmetz Zoltán Szécsi Tamás Varga Attila Vári Head coach: Dénes Kemény | Serbia and MontenegroAleksandar Ćirić Vladimir Gojković Danilo Ikodinović Viktor Jelenić Predrag Jokić Nikola Kuljača Slobodan Nikić Aleksandar Šapić Dejan Savić Denis Šefik Petar Trbojević Vanja Udovičić Vladimir Vujasinović Head coach: Nenad Manojlović | RussiaRoman Balashov Revaz Chomakhidze Alexander Yerishev Aleksandr Fyodorov Serguei Garbouzov Dmitry Gorshkov Nikolay Kozlov Nikolai Maximov Andrei Reketchinski Dmitri Stratan Vitaly Yurchik Marat Zakirov Irek Zinnurov Head coach: Alexander Kabanov |

### Women's

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| ItalyFrancesca Conti Martina Miceli Carmela Allucci Silvia Bosurgi Elena Gigli Manuela Zanchi Tania di Mario Cinzia Ragusa Giusi Malato Alexandra Araujo Maddalena Musumeci Melania Grego Noémi Tóth Head coach: Pierluigi Formiconi | GreeceGeorgia Ellinaki Dimitra Asilian Antiopi Melidoni Angeliki Karapataki Kyriaki Liosi Stavroula Kozompoli Aikaterini Oikonomopoulou Antigoni Roumpesi Evangelia Moraitidou Eftychia Karagianni Georgia Lara Antonia Moraiti Anthoula Mylonaki Head coach: Kyriakos Iosifidis | United StatesJacqueline Frank Heather Petri Ericka Lorenz Brenda Villa Ellen Estes Natalie Golda Margaret Dingeldein Kelly Rulon Heather Moody Robin Beauregard Amber Stachowski Nicolle Payne Thalia Munro Head coach: Guy Baker |