The women's water polo tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics was contested between August 16 and August 26 at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. Eight teams qualified for the Games, with Italy defeating the host nation Greece for the gold medal. The United States won the bronze medal.The eight qualifying teams were split into two groups of four for the preliminary round, which was played in a round-robin format. The top teams in each group advanced directly to the semi-finals, while second and third place teams advanced to the quarter-finals. Classification matches were also played to determine the final ranking for all teams.