Oldest goalkeepers

Legend

•  Team  – Host team

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Top 10 oldest female water polo goalkeepers

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of the last Olympic match	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of the last Olympic match	Ref
1	Hellen Boering	36 years, 58 days	Netherlands	27 July 1964	23 September 2000	[12]
2	Georgia Ellinaki	34 years, 171 days	Greece	28 February 1974	17 August 2008	[13]
3	Ana Copado	32 years, 131 days	Spain	31 March 1980	9 August 2012	[14]
4	Francesca Conti	32 years, 97 days	Italy	21 May 1972	26 August 2004	[4]
5	Karla Plugge	31 years, 350 days	Netherlands	9 October 1968	23 September 2000	[15]
6	Danielle Woodhouse	31 years, 244 days	Australia	23 January 1969	23 September 2000	[3]
7	Ildikó Sós	31 years, 238 days	Hungary	27 December 1976	21 August 2008	[16]
8	Svetlana Buravova-Khapsalis	31 years, 68 days	Kazakhstan	15 June 1973	22 August 2004	[17]
9	Isabelle Auger	31 years, 27 days	Canada	26 August 1969	22 September 2000	[18]
10	Patrícia Horváth	30 years, 258 days	Hungary	7 December 1977	21 August 2008	[19]

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Top 3 oldest female water polo goalkeepers, Olympic gold medalists

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of receiving the last Olympic gold medal	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of receiving the last Olympic gold medal	Ref
1	Francesca Conti	32 years, 97 days	Italy	21 May 1972	26 August 2004	[4]
2	Danielle Woodhouse	31 years, 244 days	Australia	23 January 1969	23 September 2000	[3]
3	Elizabeth Armstrong	29 years, 191 days	United States	31 January 1983	9 August 2012	[8]

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Top 3 oldest female water polo goalkeepers, Olympic silver medalists

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of receiving the last Olympic silver medal	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of receiving the last Olympic silver medal	Ref
1	Ana Copado	32 years, 131 days	Spain	31 March 1980	9 August 2012	[14]
2	Georgia Ellinaki	30 years, 180 days	Greece	28 February 1974	26 August 2004	[13]
3	Jaime Komer	26 years, 355 days	United States	1 September 1981	21 August 2008	[20]

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Top 3 oldest female water polo goalkeepers, Olympic bronze medalists

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of receiving the last Olympic bronze medal	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of receiving the last Olympic bronze medal	Ref
1	Emma Knox	30 years, 172 days	Australia	2 March 1978	21 August 2008	[21]
2	Alicia McCormack	29 years, 63 days	Australia	7 June 1983	9 August 2012	[22]
3	Nicolle Payne	28 years, 42 days	United States	15 July 1976	26 August 2004	[23]

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Youngest goalkeepers

Legend

•  Team  – Host team

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Top 10 youngest female water polo goalkeepers

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of the first Olympic match	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of the first Olympic match	Ref
1	Anna Karnaukh	18 years, 334 days	Russia	31 August 1993	30 July 2012	[24]
2	Elena Gigli	19 years, 38 days	Italy	9 July 1985	16 August 2004	[5]
3	Ilse van der Meijden	19 years, 294 days	Netherlands	22 October 1988	11 August 2008	[6]
4	Rachel Riddell	19 years, 346 days	Canada	5 September 1984	16 August 2004	[25]
5	Victória Chamorro	20 years, 30 days	Brazil	10 July 1996	9 August 2016	[26]
6	Anthoula Mylonaki	20 years, 67 days	Greece	10 June 1984	16 August 2004	[27]
7	Yang Jun	20 years, 105 days	China	28 April 1988	11 August 2008	[28]
8	Galina Zlotnikova	20 years, 114 days	Russia	24 April 1984	16 August 2004	[29]
9	Irina Borodavko	20 years, 317 days	Kazakhstan	4 November 1979	16 September 2000	[30]
10	Tan Ying	21 years, 42 days	China	30 June 1987	11 August 2008	[31]

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Top 3 youngest female water polo goalkeepers, Olympic gold medalists

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of receiving the first Olympic gold medal	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of receiving the first Olympic gold medal	Ref
1	Elena Gigli	19 years, 48 days	Italy	9 July 1985	26 August 2004	[5]
2	Ilse van der Meijden	19 years, 304 days	Netherlands	22 October 1988	21 August 2008	[6]
3	Ashleigh Johnson	21 years, 342 days	United States	12 September 1994	19 August 2016	[11]

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Top 3 youngest female water polo goalkeepers, Olympic silver medalists

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of receiving the first Olympic silver medal	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of receiving the first Olympic silver medal	Ref
1	Anthoula Mylonaki	20 years, 77 days	Greece	10 June 1984	26 August 2004	[27]
2	Laura Ester	22 years, 200 days	Spain	22 January 1990	9 August 2012	[32]
3	Bernice Orwig	23 years, 304 days	United States	24 November 1976	23 September 2000	[33]

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Top 3 youngest female water polo goalkeepers, Olympic bronze medalists

Rk	Goalkeeper	Age of receiving the first Olympic bronze medal	Women's team	Date of birth	Date of receiving the first Olympic bronze medal	Ref
1	Anna Karnaukh	22 years, 354 days	Russia	31 August 1993	19 August 2016	[24]
2	Jacqueline Frank	24 years, 117 days	United States	1 May 1980	26 August 2004	[34]
3	Galina Rytova	25 years, 13 days	Russia	10 September 1975	23 September 2000	[35]

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By tournament

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), name of the team (in ascending order), name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

As of 2016, fifteen female goalkeepers have been named in the national water polo team squad in two or more Olympic tournaments.

Legend

• Team^* – Host team

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Year	Total	Four-time Olympian (GK)		Three-time Olympian (GK)		Two-time Olympian (GK)
2000	0	—	0	—	0	—	0
2004	3	—	0	—	0	Kazakhstan: Svetlana Buravova-Khapsalis, Galina Rytova  United States: Nicolle Payne	3
2008	5	—	0	—	0	Australia: Emma Knox  Greece: Georgia Ellinaki  Hungary: Ildikó Sós  Italy: Elena Gigli  Russia: Valentina Vorontsova	5
2012	4	—	0	Italy: Elena Gigli	1	Australia: Alicia McCormack  China: Yang Jun  United States: Elizabeth Armstrong	3
2016	5	—	0	China: Yang Jun	1	Hungary: Edina Gangl  Italy: Giulia Gorlero  Russia: Anna Karnaukh  Spain: Laura Ester	4
2020
Year	Total	Four-time Olympian (GK)		Three-time Olympian (GK)		Two-time Olympian (GK)

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Three-time Olympians

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 goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Two female goalkeepers have been named in the national water polo team squad in three or more Olympic tournaments between 2000 and 2016 inclusive.

Legend and abbreviation

•     – Hosts
• Apps – Appearances

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Female goalkeepers who have been named in the national team squad in three or more Olympic tournaments

Apps	Goalkeeper	Birth	Height	Women's team	Water polo tournaments				Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
					1	2	3	4		G	S	B	T
3	Elena Gigli	1985	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	Italy	2004	2008	2012		8 years (19/27)	1	0	0	1	[5]
	Yang Jun	1988	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	China	2008	2012	2016		8 years (20/28)	0	0	0	0	[28]

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One match

The following table is pre-sorted by date of the match (in ascending order), name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Five female water polo goalkeepers have each saved fifteen or more shots in an Olympic match.

The first woman to do so was Patrícia Horváth, with Hungary women's national team in Beijing. She blocked 19 shots on 11 August 2008, setting the record for the most shots saved by a female water polo goalkeeper in a single Olympic match.

The most recent female goalkeeper to do so was Yang Jun, with China women's national team in Rio de Janeiro on 19 August 2016.

Legend and abbreviation

More information #, Saves ...

Female goalkeepers with fifteen or more saves in an Olympic match

#	Saves	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Height	For	Result	Against	Tournament	Round	Date	Ref
1	19	Patrícia Horváth	1977	30	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	Hungary	11–9	Netherlands	Beijing 2008	Preliminary round Group B	11 Aug 2008	ORB 2008 (p. 17)
2	15	Alicia McCormack	1983	25	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)	Australia	8–9	United States		Semi-finals	19 Aug 2008	ORB 2008 (p. 35)
3	16	Elena Gigli	1985	27	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	Italy	4–7	Russia	London 2012	Preliminary round Group B	1 Aug 2012	ORB 2012 (p. 302)
4	15	Tess Oliveira	1987	29	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)	Brazil	4–11	Australia	Rio 2016	Classification round 5th–8th place	17 Aug 2016	ORB 2016 (p. 170)
5	16	Yang Jun	1988	28	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	China	10–5	Brazil		7th–8th place match	19 Aug 2016	ORB 2016 (p. 178)

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The following table shows the historical progression of the record of shots saved by a female water polo goalkeeper in a single Olympic match. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Legend

•  Team  – Host team
• Player^‡ – Player who won the tournament with her team
• ORB – Official Results Books

More information Saves, Achievement ...

Historical progression of records:
Most shots saved by a female goalkeeper, one match

Saves	Achievement	Year	Goalkeeper	Age	Height	Women's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref
12	Set record	2000	Bernice Orwig	23	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	United States	18 September 2000	3 years, 337 days	ORB 2000 (p. 114)
14	Broke record	2004	Jacqueline Frank	24	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	United States	20 August 2004	3 years, 357 days	ORB 2004 (p. 24)
19	Broke record	2008	Patrícia Horváth	30	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)	Hungary	11 August 2008	15 years, 248 days	ORB 2008 (p. 17)

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One tournament

The following table is pre-sorted by number of saves (in descending order), edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), number of matches played (in ascending order), name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Six female goalkeepers have saved 50 or more shots in an Olympic water polo tournament.

Giulia Gorlero of Italy holds the record for the most saves by a female water polo goalkeeper in a single Olympic tournament, blocking 65 shots in the 2016 edition.

At the 2016 Summer Games, Ashleigh Johnson saved 51 shots, including nine in the gold medal match, helping the American team win the Olympics. She is the most efficient one among these six goalkeepers.

Legend and abbreviation

•  Team  – Host team
• Player^‡ – Player who won the tournament with her team
• MP – Matches played
• Eff % – Save efficiency (Saves / Shots)
• 64.6% – Highest save efficiency

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Female goalkeepers with 50 or more saves in an Olympic tournament

Rk	Year	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Height	Saves	Shots	Eff %	MP	Saves per match	Women's team	Finish	Ref
1	2016	Giulia Gorlero	1990	25	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	65	106	61.3%	6	10.833	Italy	2nd of 8 teams	[36]
2	2012	Elena Gigli	1985	27	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	56	105	53.3%	6	9.333	Italy	7th of 8 teams	[5]
3	2016	Yang Jun	1988	28	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	55	118	46.6%	6	9.167	China	7th of 8 teams	[28]
4	2012	Rosemary Morris	1986	26	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	54	113	47.8%	6	9.000	Great Britain	8th of 8 teams	[37]
5	2012	Elizabeth Armstrong‡	1983	29	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	53	101	52.5%	6	8.833	United States	1st of 8 teams	[8]
6	2016	Ashleigh Johnson‡	1994	21	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)	51	79	64.6%	6	8.500	United States	1st of 8 teams	[11]

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Source:

• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 96–101), 2004 (p. 49), 2008 (p. 50), 2012 (p. 341), 2016 (p. 195).

The following table is pre-sorted by edition of the Olympics (in ascending order), number of matches played (in ascending order), name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

At the 2004 Summer Games, Jacqueline Frank saved 41 shots, including seven in the bronze medal match, helping the United States win the match.

Giulia Gorlero of Italy blocked 65 shots at the 2016 Olympics, helping the Italian team win the Olympic silver medal.

Legend and abbreviation

•  Team  – Host team
• Player^‡ – Player who won the tournament with her team
• MP – Matches played
• Eff % – Save efficiency (Saves / Shots)

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Female goalkeepers with the most saves in each Olympic tournament

Year	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	Height	Saves	Shots	Eff %	MP	Saves per match	Women's team	Finish	Ref
2000	Karla Plugge	1968	31	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	45	81	55.6%	7	6.429	Netherlands	4th of 6 teams	[15]
2004	Jacqueline Frank	1980	24	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	41	68	60.3%	5	8.200	United States	3rd of 8 teams	[34]
2008	Elizabeth Armstrong	1983	25	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	49	92	53.3%	5	9.800	United States	2nd of 8 teams	[8]
2012	Elena Gigli	1985	27	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	56	105	53.3%	6	9.333	Italy	7th of 8 teams	[5]
2016	Giulia Gorlero	1990	25	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	65	106	61.3%	6	10.833	Italy	2nd of 8 teams	[36]

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Source:

• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 96–101), 2004 (p. 49), 2008 (p. 50), 2012 (p. 341), 2016 (p. 195).

The following table shows the historical progression of the record of shots saved by a female water polo goalkeeper in a single Olympic tournament. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Legend

•  Team  – Host team
• Player^‡ – Player who won the tournament with her team

More information Saves, Achievement ...

Historical progression of records:
Most shots saved by a female goalkeeper, one tournament

Saves	Achievement	Year	Goalkeeper	Age	Height	Women's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref
45	Set record	2000	Karla Plugge	31	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)	Netherlands	23 September 2000	7 years, 333 days	[15]
49	Broke record	2008	Elizabeth Armstrong	25	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	United States	21 August 2008	3 years, 354 days	[8]
56	Broke record	2012	Elena Gigli	27	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	Italy	9 August 2012	4 years, 10 days	[5]
65	Broke record	2016	Giulia Gorlero	25	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	Italy	19 August 2016	7 years, 240 days	[36]

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All-time

The following table is pre-sorted by number of total saves (in descending order), number of total Olympic matches played (in ascending order), date of the last Olympic match played (in ascending order), date of the first Olympic match played (in ascending order), name of the goalkeeper (in ascending order), respectively. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Yang Jun of China holds the record for the most shots saved by a female water polo goalkeeper at the Olympics, with 138 saves at three Olympics (2008–2016).

Elizabeth Armstrong, representing the United States, blocked 102 shots at two Olympics (2008–2012).

Legend

•     – Hosts

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All-time female goalkeepers with 100 or more saves at the Olympics

Rk	Goalkeeper	Birth	Height	Women's team	Total saves	Total matches played	Saves per match	Tournaments (saves)			Period (age of first/last)	Medals				Ref
								1	2	3		G	S	B	T
1	Yang Jun	1988	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	China	138	17	8.118	2008 (39)	2012 (44)	2016 (55)	8 years (20/28)	0	0	0	0	[28]
2	Elizabeth Armstrong	1983	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	United States	102	11	9.273	2008 (49)	2012 (53)		4 years (25/29)	1	1	0	2	[8]

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Source:

• Official Results Books (PDF): 2000 (pp. 96–101), 2004 (p. 49), 2008 (p. 50), 2012 (p. 341), 2016 (p. 195).

The following table shows the historical progression of the record of total shots saved by a female water polo goalkeeper at the Summer Olympics. Last updated: 1 April 2021.

Legend

•  Team  – Host team
• Player^‡ – Player who won the tournament with her team

More information Total saves, Achievement ...

Historical progression of records:
Most shots saved by a female goalkeeper, all-time

Total saves	Achievement	Year	Goalkeeper	Age	Height	Women's team	Date	Duration of record	Ref
53	Set record	2008	Georgia Ellinaki	34	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)	Greece	21 August 2008	3 years, 354 days	[13]
102	Broke record	2012	Elizabeth Armstrong‡	29	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	United States	9 August 2012	4 years, 10 days	[8]
138	Broke record	2016	Yang Jun	28	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)	China	19 August 2016	7 years, 240 days	[28]

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