Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Water Polo Studs: Ex-Yugoslavia

Former Yugoslavia (now 7 counties if you count Kosovo)
I know this is kind of cheating, but come on, Yugoslavia was clearly the land of stud Water Polo players.
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Yugoslavia won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics and the 1988 Olympics - then the country dissolved after Tito passed away, and no medals in 1992...
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But then in 1996 Croatia won a silver.  In 2000 Serbia & Montenegro (competing as "Yugoslavia") won a a Silver.  In 20 04 Serbia & Montenegro - competing as that, won a silver and in 2008, Serbia won a bronze.
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This year 3 of the 12 competing nations are Croatia, Montenegro & Serbia (who have all won a world championship since 2007).  That is ex-Yugoslavia getting 3 teams of the 11 spots (1 goes to the host).
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So here they are:
2007 World Champs - Croatia
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No "Worlds" in 2008 - Montenegro, European Champs
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World Champs in 2009 - Serbia.
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All three teams qualified for the London games, along with the USA (Pan-American winner), Great Britain (host), Italy & Hungary (other FINA World Championship qualifiers), Kazakhstan (Asia winner), Australia (Oceania winner) and Spain, Greece & Romania (qualified via tournament).