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NANTERRE, France — In a matter of days, the U.S. women's water polo team went from the pursuit of a historic gold medal to going home empty-handed. It was quite a fall. The U.S. blew another lead and lost 11-10 to the Netherlands on Sabrina van der Sloot's last-second goal in the bronze-medal game at the Paris Olympics. The U.S. had been the only program to medal in each women's water polo tournament at the Olympics since it started in 2000. The U.S. arrived at the Paris Games in search of an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal. The rough finish in France underlined the difficulty of the program's long run on top of the sport.
