Serbia men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics

This article lists various water polo records and statistics in relation to the Serbia men's national water polo team at the Summer Olympics.

The Serbia men's national water polo team has participated in 4 of 27 official men's water polo tournaments.[1]

Abbreviations

Apps Appearances Rk Rank Ref Reference Cap No. Water polo cap number
Pos Playing position FP Field player GK Goalkeeper ISHOF International Swimming Hall of Fame
L/R Handedness L Left-handed R Right-handed Oly debut Olympic debut in water polo
(C) Captain p. page pp. pages

Team statistics

Comprehensive results by tournament

Notes:

  • Results of Olympic qualification tournaments are not included. Numbers refer to the final placing of each team at the respective Games.
  • At the 1904 Summer Olympics, a water polo tournament was contested, but only American contestants participated. Currently the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Swimming Federation (FINA) consider water polo event as part of unofficial program in 1904.
  • Related teams: Yugoslavia men's Olympic water polo team (statistics), FR Yugoslavia men's Olympic water polo team[a] (statistics), Serbia and Montenegro men's Olympic water polo team (statistics).
  • Last updated: 8 August 2021.
Legend
  •  1  – Champions
  •  2  – Runners-up
  •  3  – Third place
  •  4  – Fourth place
  •  —  – The nation did not participate in the Games
  •  Q  – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
  • Team – Defunct team
Abbreviation
  • FRY – FR Yugoslavia
  • SCG – Serbia and Montenegro
Men's team[1] 00 04 08 12 20 24 28 32 36 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 Years
 Serbia Part of Yugoslavia P. of FRY / SCG 3 3 1 1 4
 Yugoslavia 10 9 2 2 4 2 1 5 5 2 1 1 Defunct 12
 Yugoslavia[a] Part of Yugoslavia 8 3 Defunct 2
 Serbia and Montenegro Part of Yugoslavia See FRY 2 Defunct 1
Total teams 7 4 6 12 13 14 5 16 18 21 10 16 13 15 16 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12

Number of appearances

Last updated: 11 August 2024.

Men's team[1] Apps Record
streak
Active
streak
Debut Most
recent
Best finish Confederation
 Serbia 5 5 5 2008 2024 Champions Europe – LEN

Best finishes

Last updated: 11 August 2024.

Men's team[1] Best finish Apps Confederation
 Serbia Champions (2016, 2020, 2024) 5 Europe – LEN

Finishes in the top four

Last updated: 11 August 2024.

Men's team[1] Total Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place First Last
 Serbia 5 3 (2016, 2020, 2024) 2 (2008, 2012) 2008 2024

Medal table

Last updated: 11 August 2024.

Men's teamGoldSilverBronzeTotal
 Serbia (SRB)3025

Player statistics

Multiple appearances

The following table is pre-sorted by number of Olympic appearances (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), date of birth (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of five-time Olympians: 0
  • Number of four-time Olympians: 7
  • Last updated: 8 August 2021.
Abbreviation
  • FRY – FR Yugoslavia
  • SCG – Serbia and Montenegro
  • SRB – Serbia
Male athletes who competed in water polo at four or more Olympics
Apps Player Birth Pos Water polo tournaments Age of
first/last
ISHOF
member
Note Ref
1 2 3 4 5
4 Vladimir Vujasinović 1973 FP 1996
FRY
2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
22/35 [2]
Dejan Savić 1975 FP 1996
FRY
2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
21/33 [3]
Aleksandar Šapić 1978 FP 1996
FRY
2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
18/30 [4]
Duško Pijetlović 1985 FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 23/36 [5]
Andrija Prlainović 1987 FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 21/34 [6]
Filip Filipović 1987 FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 21/34 Flag bearer for Serbia (2020) [7]
Dušan Mandić 1994 FP 2012 2016 2020 2024 18/30 [8]

Multiple medalists

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of receiving the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of receiving the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of four-time Olympic medalists: 4
  • Number of three-time Olympic medalists: 13
  • Last updated: 11 August 2024.
Abbreviation
  • FRY – FR Yugoslavia
  • SCG – Serbia and Montenegro
  • SRB – Serbia
Male athletes who won three or more Olympic medals in water polo
Rk Player Birth Height Pos Water polo tournaments Period
(age of
first/last)
Medals Ref
1 2 3 4 5 G S B T
1 Dušan Mandić 1994 2.02 m
(6 ft 8 in)
FP 2012 2016 2020 2024 12 years
(18/30)
3 0 1 4 [8]
2 Filip Filipović 1987 1.96 m
(6 ft 5 in)
FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 13 years
(21/34)
2 0 2 4 [7]
Duško Pijetlović 1985 1.97 m
(6 ft 6 in)
FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 13 years
(23/36)
2 0 2 4 [5]
Andrija Prlainović 1987 1.87 m
(6 ft 2 in)
FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 13 years
(21/34)
2 0 2 4 [6]
5 Nikola Jakšić 1997 1.96 m
(6 ft 5 in)
FP 2016 2020 2024 8 years
(19/27)
3 0 0 3 [9]
Sava Ranđelović 1993 1.93 m
(6 ft 4 in)
FP 2016 2020 2024 8 years
(23/31)
3 0 0 3 [10]
7 Milan Aleksić 1986 1.93 m
(6 ft 4 in)
FP 2012 2016 2020 9 years
(26/35)
2 0 1 3 [11]
Stefan Mitrović 1988 1.95 m
(6 ft 5 in)
FP 2012 2016 2020 9 years
(24/33)
2 0 1 3 [12]
Gojko Pijetlović 1983 1.94 m
(6 ft 4 in)
GK 2012 2016 2020 9 years
(29/38)
2 0 1 3 [13]
4 Slobodan Nikić 1983 1.97 m
(6 ft 6 in)
FP 2004
SCG
2012
SRB
2016
SRB
12 years
(21/33)
1 1 1 3 [14]
9 Živko Gocić 1982 1.93 m
(6 ft 4 in)
FP 2008 2012 2016 8 years
(25/33)
1 0 2 3 [15]
10 Aleksandar Ćirić 1977 1.92 m
(6 ft 4 in)
FP 2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
8 years
(22/30)
0 1 2 3 [16]
Aleksandar Šapić 1978 1.88 m
(6 ft 2 in)
FP 1996
FRY
2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
12 years
(18/30)
0 1 2 3 [4]
Dejan Savić 1975 1.90 m
(6 ft 3 in)
FP 1996
FRY
2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
12 years
(21/33)
0 1 2 3 [3]
Vladimir Vujasinović 1973 1.87 m
(6 ft 2 in)
FP 1996
FRY
2000
FRY
2004
SCG
2008
SRB
12 years
(22/34)
0 1 2 3 [2]
Vanja Udovičić 1982 1.93 m
(6 ft 4 in)
FP 2004
SCG
2008
SRB
2012
SRB
8 years
(21/29)
0 1 2 3 [17]
Rk Player Birth Height Pos 1 2 3 4 5 Period
(age of
first/last)
G S B T Ref
Water polo tournaments Medals

Top goalscorers

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total goals (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the player (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of goalscorers (50+ goals): 1
  • Number of goalscorers (40–49 goals): 1
  • Number of goalscorers (30–39 goals): 2
  • Last updated: 1 April 2021.
Abbreviation
  • FRY – FR Yugoslavia
  • SCG – Serbia and Montenegro
  • SRB – Serbia
Male players with 30 or more goals at the Olympics
Rk Player Birth L/R Total
goals
Water polo tournaments
(goals)
Age of
first/last
ISHOF
member
Note Ref
1 2 3 4 5
1 Aleksandar Šapić 1978 Right 64 1996
FRY
(8)
2000
FRY
(18)
2004
SCG
(18)
2008
SRB
(20)
18/30 [18]
2 Filip Filipović 1987 Left 41 2008
(4)
2012
(18)
2016
(19)
21/29 [19]
3 Vladimir Vujasinović 1973 Right 34 1996
FRY
(14)
2000
FRY
(5)
2004
SCG
(3)
2008
SRB
(12)
22/35 [20]
4 Andrija Prlainović 1987 Right 31 2008
(4)
2012
(22)
2016
(5)
21/29 [21]

Sources:

  • Official Reports (PDF): 1996;
  • Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 46, 50, 56, 78, 83, 85, 88, 92), 2004 (pp. 223–224), 2008 (pp. 211–212), 2012 (pp. 494–495), 2016 (pp. 131–132).

Goalkeepers

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), cap number or name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively.

Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Abbreviation
  • Eff % – Save efficiency (Saves / Shots)
Year Cap
No.
Goalkeeper Birth Age Saves Shots Eff % ISHOF
member
Note Ref
2008 1 Denis Šefik (2) 1976 31 22 43 51.2% [22]
13 Slobodan Soro 1978 29 57 93 61.3% Starting goalkeeper [23]
2012 1 Slobodan Soro (2) 1978 33 75 135 55.6% Starting goalkeeper [23]
13 Gojko Pijetlović 1983 29 11 17 64.7% [13]
2016 1 Gojko Pijetlović (2) 1983 33 14 21 66.7% [13]
13 Branislav Mitrović 1985 31 60 119 50.4% Starting goalkeeper [24]
2020 1 Gojko Pijetlović (3) 1983 38 [13]
13 Branislav Mitrović (2) 1985 36 [24]
Year Cap
No.
Goalkeeper Birth Age Saves Shots Eff % ISHOF
member
Note Ref

Source:

Notes:

Top sprinters

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total sprints won (in descending order), year of the last Olympic appearance (in ascending order), year of the first Olympic appearance (in ascending order), name of the sprinter (in ascending order), respectively.

  • Number of sprinters (30+ sprints won, since 2000): 1
  • Number of sprinters (20–29 sprints won, since 2000): 0
  • Number of sprinters (10–19 sprints won, since 2000): 1
  • Number of sprinters (5–9 sprints won, since 2000): 4
  • Last updated: 15 May 2021.
Abbreviation
  • Eff % – Efficiency (Sprints won / Sprints contested)
  • FRY – FR Yugoslavia
  • SCG – Serbia and Montenegro
  • SRB – Serbia
Male players with 5 or more sprints won at the Olympics (statistics since 2000)
Rk Sprinter Birth Total
sprints
won
Total
sprints
contested
Eff % Water polo tournaments
(sprints won / contested)
Age of
first/last
ISHOF
member
Note Ref
1 2 3 4 5
1 Aleksandar Ćirić 1977 40 56 71.4% 2000
FRY
(17/24)
2004
SCG
(14/20)
2008
SRB
(9/12)
22/30 [16]
2 Filip Filipović 1987 10 22 45.5% 2008
(8/15)
2012
(2/6)
2016
(0/1)
21/29 [7]
3 Aleksa Šaponjić 1992 7 11 63.6% 2012
(7/11)
20/20 [25]
Stefan Mitrović 1988 7 20 35.0% 2012
(3/8)
2016
(4/12)
24/28 [12]
5 Živko Gocić 1982 6 19 31.6% 2008
(1/4)
2012
(2/7)
2016
(3/8)
26/33 [15]
6 Miloš Ćuk 1990 5 11 45.5% 2016
(5/11)
25/25 [26]

Source:

  • Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 46, 50, 56, 78, 83, 85, 88, 92), 2004 (pp. 223–224), 2008 (pp. 211–212), 2012 (pp. 494–495), 2016 (pp. 131–132).

Coach statistics

Medals as coach and player

The following table is pre-sorted by total number of Olympic medals (in descending order), number of Olympic gold medals (in descending order), number of Olympic silver medals (in descending order), year of winning the last Olympic medal (in ascending order), year of winning the first Olympic medal (in ascending order), name of the person (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 5 May 2021.

As a water polo player, Dejan Savić won three consecutive Olympic medals between 2000 and 2008. At the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, he coached Serbia men's national team to the Olympic title.[3]

Rk Person Birth Height Player Head coach Total medals Ref
Age Men's team Pos Medal Age Men's team Medal G S B T
1 Dejan Savić 1975 1.90 m
(6 ft 3 in)
25  Yugoslavia FP 2000 41  Serbia 2016 1 1 2 4 [3]
29  Serbia and Montenegro FP 2004
33  Serbia FP 2008

Olympic champions

2016 Summer Olympics

  • Edition of men's tournament: 27th
  • Host city: Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Number of participating teams: 12
  • Competition format: Round-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches
  • Champion:  Serbia (1st title; 4th place in preliminary A group)

Source: Official Results Books (PDF): 2016 (pp. 9, 21, 37, 53, 65, 75, 83, 91).

Filip Filipović scored 19 goals at the 2016 Olympics, helping Serbia win gold. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the men's water polo tournament.

Note: Duško Pijetlović and Gojko Pijetlović are brothers.
Sources:

Abbreviation

  • MP – Matches played
  • Min – Minutes
  • G – Goals
  • Sh – Shots
  • AS – Assists
  • TF – Turnover fouls
  • ST – Steals
  • BL – Blocked shots
  • SP – Sprints
  • 20S – 20 seconds exclusion
  • DE – Double exclusion
  • Pen – Penalty
  • EX – Exclusion
Statistics
Cap
No.
Player Pos MP Minutes played Goals/Shots AS TF ST BL Sprints Personal fouls
Min % G Sh % Won SP % 20S DE Pen EX
1 Gojko Pijetlović GK 8 32 12.5% 1
2 Dušan Mandić FP 8 170 66.4% 12 24 50.0% 4 10 1 6 6
3 Živko Gocić (C) FP 8 156 60.9% 2 12 16.7% 3 3 3 3 3 8 37.5% 11
4 Sava Ranđelović FP 8 60 23.4% 2 4 50.0% 2 4 2 13 1 1
5 Miloš Ćuk FP 8 122 47.7% 6 21 28.6% 1 4 3 2 5 11 45.5% 4 1 1
6 Duško Pijetlović FP 8 129 50.4% 8 16 50.0% 1 17 2 11 1
7 Slobodan Nikić FP 8 115 44.9% 10 20 50.0% 1 13 1 2 4
8 Milan Aleksić FP 8 134 52.3% 4 13 30.8% 4 6 5 3 11 1 2
9 Nikola Jakšić FP 8 88 34.4% 4 7 57.1% 4 2 2 13 1 2
10 Filip Filipović FP 8 178 69.5% 19 44 43.2% 7 9 6 6 0 1 0.0% 7
11 Andrija Prlainović FP 8 210 82.0% 5 25 20.0% 6 5 5 5 9 1 1 2
12 Stefan Mitrović FP 8 174 68.0% 8 26 30.8% 1 10 4 7 4 12 33.3% 3
13 Branislav Mitrović GK 8 224 87.5% 11
Team 3
Total 8 256 100% 80 212 37.7% 28 86 46 40 12 32 37.5% 92 1 5 9
Against 66 216 30.6% 24 102 47 22 20 32 62.5% 82 1 4 7

Source: Official Results Books (PDF): 2016 (p. 131).

Water polo people at the opening and closing ceremonies

Flag bearers

Some sportspeople were chosen to carry the national flag of their country at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, one male water polo player was given the honour to carry the flag for Serbia.

Legend
  •  2008 O  – Opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics
  •  2012 C  – Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics
  • Flag bearer – Flag bearer who won the tournament with his team
Water polo people who were flag bearers at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games
# Year Country Flag bearer Birth Age Height Team Pos Water polo tournaments Period
(age of
first/last)
Medals Ref
1 2 3 4 5 G S B T
1 2020 O Serbia Filip Filipović 1987 34 1.96 m
(6 ft 5 in)
 Serbia FP 2008 2012 2016 2020 13 years
(21/34)
2 0 2 4 [7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b After the breakup of Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia men's national water polo team participated at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and won a bronze medal in 2000. In 2003, after the country was renamed from FR Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro, the team was also renamed to "Serbia and Montenegro men's national water polo team".

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Vladimir Vujasinović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Dejan Savić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Aleksandar Šapić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Duško Pijetlović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Andrija Prlainović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "Filip Filipović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Dušan Mandić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nikola Jakšić OP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sava Ranđelović OP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Milan Aleksić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Stefan Mitrović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d "Gojko Pijetlović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Slobodan Nikić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Živko Gocić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Aleksandar Ćirić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Vanja Udovičić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Aleksandar Šapić". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Filip Filipović". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  20. ^ "Vladimir Vujasinović". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Andrija Prlainović". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  22. ^ "Denis Šefik". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Slobodan Soro". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  24. ^ a b "Branislav Mitrović". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  25. ^ "Aleksa Šaponjić". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  26. ^ "Miloš Ćuk". olympedia.org. Olympedia. Retrieved 15 May 2021.

Sources

Official Reports (IOC)

PDF documents in the LA84 Foundation Digital Library:

Official Results Books (IOC)

PDF documents in the LA84 Foundation Digital Library:

PDF documents on the FINA website:

PDF documents in the Olympic World Library:

PDF documents on the International Olympic Committee website:

Official Reports (FINA)

PDF documents on the FINA website:

Official website (IOC)

Water polo on the International Olympic Committee website:

Olympedia

Water polo on the Olympedia website:

Sports Reference

Water polo on the Sports Reference website:

Todor66

Water polo on the Todor66 website:

ISHOF

International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) website: