Water Polo, Men

The two favorites were Hungary and Yugoslavia who had been 1-2 at Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956), and in Rome had placed 3-4 behind Italy and the Soviet Union. Those same four teams went through the preliminary round in Tokyo by winning their groups. All four of the favorites also advanced through the semi-final pools, with Russia placing first ahead of Italy in their pool. In the other pool, Hungary and Yugoslavia won one match each, had one win carried over, and when they met, they tied 4-4, with Hungary winning the pool by goal differential.

In the final round, Hungary and Yugoslavia would not meet, their match score carrying over from the semi-finals. Hungary defeated Italy 3-1, and the Soviet Union 5-2, while Yugoslavia defeated the Soviets 2-0, and Italy 2-1. This gave Hungary the gold medal by goal differential in the final round, with Yugoslavia second and the Soviets winning bronze. These same four teams had finished 1-4 at the last three Olympic Games (1956-64), and in 1952 the medalists had been Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Italy. For Hungary, Dezső Gyarmati won his fifth Olympic medal, finishing his career with three golds, one silver, and one bronze.

One interesting pairing occurred when the Netherlands defeated the United States in group play, 6-4. The USA goalie was Tony Van Dorp, who was facing his brother Fred van Dorp, a player for their native Netherlands, although they were both born in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the time the Dutch East Indies. Tony Van Dorp started out with the Dutch National Team, playing with them from 1954-56, and from 1961-63 played on the Dutch National Champions, but he later moved to the USA, obtaining US citizenship in 1957. They would face each other again at the 1968 Olympics, with the US winning that one, 6-3.