Belgium men's Olympic water polo team records and statistics

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

The Belgium men's national water polo team has participated in 11 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.
• Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

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
Belgium	2	—	2	3	2	2	6		3	4	6		16	7															11
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: 5 May 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

Men's team[1]	Apps	Record streak	Active streak	Debut	Most recent	Best finish	Confederation
Belgium	11	5	0	1900	1964	Runners-up	Europe – LEN

Best finishes

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

Men's team[1]	Best finish	Apps	Confederation
Belgium	Runners-up (1900, 1908, 1920*, 1924)	11	Europe – LEN

Finishes in the top four

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Legend

• Year^* – As host team

Men's team[1]	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	First	Last
Belgium	7		4 (1900, 1908, 1920*, 1924)	2 (1912, 1936)	1 (1948)	1900	1948

Medal table

Last updated: 5 May 2021.

Men's team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Belgium (BEL)	0	4	2	6

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: 2
• Last updated: 27 July 2021.

Legend

•     – Hosts

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	Joseph Pletincx	1888	FP	1908	1912	1920	1924		20/36	1988		[2]
	Gérard Blitz	1901	FP	1920	1924	1928		1936	19/35	1990		[3]

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 five-time Olympic medalists: 0
• Number of four-time Olympic medalists: 1
• Number of three-time Olympic medalists: 3
• Last updated: 1 May 2021.

Legend

•     – Hosts

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	Joseph Pletincx	1888		FP	1908	1912	1920	1924		16 years (20/36)	0	3	1	4	[2]
2	Oscar Grégoire	1877		FP	1900	1908	1912			12 years (23/35)	0	2	1	3	[4]
	Albert Durant	1892		GK	1912	1920	1924			12 years (20/32)	0	2	1	3	[5]
	Gérard Blitz	1901		FP	1920	1924	1928		1936	16 years (19/35)	0	2	1	3	[3]

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): 0
• Number of goalscorers (40–49 goals): 0
• Number of goalscorers (30–39 goals): 0
• Last updated: 1 April 2021.

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: 1 April 2021.

Legend

•     – Hosts

Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	ISHOF member	Note	Ref
1900		Albert Michant				Starting goalkeeper	[6]
		(Unknown)
1908		Albert Michant (2)				Starting goalkeeper	[6]
		(Unknown)
1912		Albert Durant	1892	20		Starting goalkeeper	[5]
		(Unknown)
1920		Albert Durant (2)	1892	28		Starting goalkeeper	[5]
		(Unknown)
1924		Albert Durant (3)	1892	32		Starting goalkeeper	[5]
		(Unknown)
1928		Jules Brandeleer				Starting goalkeeper	[7]
		(Unknown)
1936		Henri Disy	1913	22		Starting goalkeeper	[8]
		(Unknown)
1948		Théo-Léo De Smet	1917	30		Starting goalkeeper	[9]
		(Unknown)
1952		Théo-Léo De Smet (2)	1917	34			[9]
		François Maesschalck	1921	30			[10]
1960		Bruno De Hesselle	1941	18		Starting goalkeeper	[11]
		(Unknown)
1964	1	Bruno De Hesselle (2)	1941	23		Starting goalkeeper	[11]
		(Unknown)
Year	Cap No.	Goalkeeper	Birth	Age	ISHOF member	Note	Ref

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 Belgium.

Legend

•  2008 O  – Opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics
•  2012 C  – Closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics
•     – Hosts
• 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	1920 O	Belgium	Victor Boin	1886	34		Belgium	FP	1908	1912				4 years (22/26)	0	1	1	2	[12]

Oath takers

Some sportspeople from the host nations were chosen to take the Olympic Oath at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. As of the 2020 Summer Olympics, one water polo player from Belgium was given the honour.^[13]

As an athlete, Victor Boin of Belgium took the first ever Olympic Oath at the 1920 Games in Antwerp. He was the Belgium flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 1920 Olympics.^[12]

Legend

•     – Hosts
• Oath taker^‡ – Oath taker who won the tournament with his team

Water polo people who were oath takers at the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games

#	Year	Oath	Country	Oath taker	Birth	Age	Water polo tournament			Ref
1	1920	Athletes' Oath	Belgium	Victor Boin	1886	34	1908	1912	As player	[12]

See also

• List of men's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics
• Lists of Olympic water polo records and statistics
• Belgium at the Olympics

References

Sources

Official Reports (IOC)

PDF documents in the LA84 Foundation Digital Library:

Official Results Books (IOC)

PDF documents in the LA84 Foundation Digital Library:

• Official Results Book – 2000 Olympic Games – Water Polo (download, archive)
• Official Results Book – 2004 Olympic Games – Water Polo (download, archive)
• Official Results Book – 2008 Olympic Games – Water Polo (download, archive)

PDF documents on the FINA website:

• Official Results Book – 2012 Olympic Games – Diving, Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (archive) (pp. 284–507)

PDF documents in the Olympic World Library:

• Official Results Book – 2016 Olympic Games – Water Polo (archive)

PDF documents on the International Olympic Committee website:

• Official Results Book – 2020 Olympic Games – Water Polo (archive)

Official Reports (FINA)

PDF documents on the FINA website:

• HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics (as of September 2019) (archive) (pp. 4–13)
• 1870–2020 | 150 years of Water Polo – Evolution of its rules (archive)

Official website (IOC)

Water polo on the International Olympic Committee website:

• Water polo
• Men's water polo

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:

External links

• Olympic water polo – Official website