U.S. women’s water polo team beats Italy to defend Olympic gold medal

The U.S. women’s water polo team has been an unstoppable force in Rio and won its second straight Olympic gold medal on Friday afternoon with a 12-5 win over Italy.

This is the first time that a women’s water polo team has defended its Olympic gold medal. Team USA won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics before claiming gold in London.

According to The Post’s Adam Kilgore, the team won all six games in Rio by a 73-32 point margin.

After the victory, each player took turns placing their gold medals around Coach Adam Krikorian’s neck.

The Olympics have felt like therapy for Krikorian, whose brother Blake died suddenly at age 48 two days before the Opening Ceremonies.

“When you see a bunch of young adults and even young kids, some of them fighting to achieve their dream, it reminds me of the qualities my brother had,” Krikorian said. “Which were hard work, passion, perseverance. In a lot of ways, this team reminds me of him. Their attitude, their approach reminds me a lot of just how my brother was and how he’d want us to be.”