“Feels Unreal”: American Water Polo Star Overwhelmed With Gratitude as She Secures Her Maiden World Championship Title

It’s been a wild ride at the 2024 Doha World Aquatic Championships. With 7 gold medals in the bag, the USA is currently firmly placed in the second position and things aren’t looking too shabby either. Along with the individual events, the water polo teams were under the spotlight with their sensational form, and the women’s team established its dominance with a resolute display.

The US women’s water polo team beat Hungary 8-7 to win the finals in Doha and fans are naturally elated with the results. With the Olympics coming ever closer, the latest gold medal-hauling performance will act as an extra boost to the systems. While the community celebrates the victory, one member of the team couldn’t help but gush about her colleague’s gig in the finals.

Water Polo star over the moon with win at Doha

The official USA Water Polo account on X (formerly known as Twitter) shared a brief interview of 21-year-old Jovana Sekulic after her maiden World Championships gold win. “Following the win, we caught up with Jovana Sekulic about her first World Championship win“, reads the caption of the post. In the accompanying short video, Sekulic shares her emotions after the surreal win over Hungary.

“Winning this World Champs feels unreal“, confessed Sekulic, and the glee on her face couldn’t be overlooked. Along with her own exploits, the water polo star also had to take a moment to nod her hat to her comrades who came together in stellar fashion to bring yet another gold USA’s way. “I’m so proud of how far we’ve come“, Sekulic can be heard acknowledging in the video, while she also talked about how this win can act as a sort of fuel for the upcoming tournaments.

“Being a part of this group is so special and I hope we can use this as a motivation to keep getting better“, Sekulic said in the interview as her eyes twinkled with the hopes of more such performances in the near future. While Jovana now celebrates her win, all of her national teammates haven’t been so fortunate.

Mixed results for Team USA

The USA men’s water polo team failed to reach the quarterfinals despite showing great potential in the initial stages. The team had to bid adieu to the tournament early while finishing ninth, despite clinching a remarkable win over Australia. Furthermore, three-time NCAA gold medalist Shaine Casas couldn’t get a podium finish in the men’s 200m individual event on day 5, despite showing promising results in the early stages of the Championships. The men’s 4x200m medley team also suffered a massive blow from China and the Republic of Korea and walked away from the tournament with a bronze. But there was good news as well.

Read more: Doha World Championships: USA Faces a Blow From China, Walks Away With Bronze

On the other hand, Hunter Armstrong and Claire Curzan both secured back-to-back gold medals for the USA in their respective events. Now, with the final days of the event, it waits to be seen what destiny has in store for the American swimmers in Doha.

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