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A stray elbow to the face forced Steffens
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/
sports/water-polo-us-women-bloodied-unbowed-battle-with-china-2021-07-26
out of the Monday's game against China but the 28-year-old was
back in the pool, scoring one goal in the Group B match against
Hungary, which ended with the reigning Olympic champions
suffering a shock 10-9 defeat.
"No-one is hoping for a broken nose or anything getting into the
Olympics," said Steffens, who had a plaster on her nose and a
black eye. "You have to be ready for anything at the Olympics
and water polo is a physical game."
Water polo, best described as a lung-busting mix of swimming,
rugby and wrestling, is one of the most physically demanding
sports on the Olympic roster as athletes grapple each other over
32 minutes without touching the bottom of the pool.
"Everyone's here just trying to give their best and sometimes an
elbow is going to cross the nose," said Steffens, who is three
goals away from breaking the women's water polo all-time Olympic
scoring record.
The defeat does not spell disaster for the U.S., who are still
top of Group B on four points and can seal progress to the
quarter-finals if they win their last group game against the
Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on Friday.
The U.S., who are targeting their third consecutive Olympic
gold, will advance even without beating ROC if other results go
their way. The top four teams in each group qualify for the
knockout stages.
"We have a lot more opportunities to show who we are and who we
can be and I look forward to doing that," Steffens said.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey and Simon Jennings, editing by Ed
Osmond)
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