Tony Azevedo - WikiHQ

Anthony Lawrence Azevedo (born November 21, 1981) is a Brazilian-born American water polo player who competed for Stanford University. He is a 2008 Olympic silver medalist and a five-time Olympian, which included the Olympic years 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. Azevedo has ranked fourth on the all-time scoring list in Olympic history, with 61 goals.

In club water polo, beginning around his late college years, Azevedo played for Shore Aquatics in Long Beach, and later with the New York Athletic Club where he helped lead the team to a few national championships. He set a Stanford school freshman scoring record of 68 goals, and a single-season record as a sophomore of 95, or 3.4 goals a game. In a rare distinction, in each of his four years in college, he was honored as the most outstanding male player of the year with the Peter J. Cutino Award – water polo's version of the Heisman Trophy.

Five Olympics

2000 Sydney Olympics

He represented the United States as the youngest member of the team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where the U.S. team placed sixth under Head Coach John Vargas, his coach at Stanford. Pre-Olympic favorites Hungary took the gold medal, the Russian Federation took the silver, and a strong team from Yugoslavia took the bronze. After the 2000 Olympics, Azevedo was chosen by world-wide journalists to become a member of an All-world water polo team. The 2000 semi-final games were close matches, with Hungary beating Serbia/Montenegro by 8-7, and Russia defeating Spain by the same score. In the final game between Hungary and Russia, Hungary led after each of the first three quarter by scores of 3-1, 8-2, and 10-4. Hungary won by the end of play with a final score of 13-6, taking their first gold medal since the 1976 games Montréal. As noted, Russia took the silver. Pre-Olympic favorites Hungary took the gold as they had in 2000, Serbia and Montenegro took the silver, and the Russian Federation took the bronze. in the 2008 Summer Olympics under Head Olympic Coach Terry Schroeder, where the U.S. team won the silver medal in the Men's Olympic water polo competition. Pre-Olympic favorites Hungary won the gold, and Serbia won the bronze. Azevedo scored 5 goals in an 8–4 win by the US National Team over host country China in the opening games of the 2008 Olympics. As noted, in the final championship game, the U.S. team won the silver medal, but were defeated by Hungary. The U.S. team finished eighth overall, with pre-Olympic favorites Croatia taking the gold, Italy taking the silver, and pre-Olympic favorite Serbia taking the bronze. In the final game between Italy and Croatia, Italy began with a 2-0 lead, but Croatia had a 3-2 lead at halftime. Though Italy tied the game 3-3 in the third quarter, Croatia scored four straight and unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead, and put the match away, though Italy scored again. Serbia defeated Montenegro for the bronze by a close score of 12-11. Serbia took the gold, Croatia took the silver, and Italy took the bronze. Azevedo played for Jug from Dubrovnik for two seasons from 2008 until 2010. In 2010s he continued to play for Croatian water polo squad from Dubrovnik.

Honors

Azevedo received numerous distinctions at Stanford, including becoming the school's highest career points scorer at the end of his Senior year. Azevedo became a member of the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2021, and had the rare distinction of receiving the Peter J. Cutino award, as water polo's top collegiate player, for all four years of his Stanford career.

Personal life

Tony is married to Sarah Azevedo, and has one son.

The Azevedo family has been an Olympic dynasty, initially for Brazil. Tony's great-grandfather was a 1908 Olympic gymnast, two great Aunts were 1936 Olympic swimmers, an uncle was a 1972 swimming Olympian, and father Ricardo played water polo in both the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

References

External links

Azevedo's official Stanford athletics biography
Tony Azevedo biography on Mikasa Sports
Tony Azevedo Podcast website