US women’s water polo team handed a rare loss at the Paris Olympics

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — The U.S. women's water polo team was handed a rare loss at the Paris Olympics on Monday, falling 13-11 to Bea Ortiz and Spain in a rematch of the final at the Tokyo Games.

The U.S. is going for its fourth consecutive gold medal. No team — men or women — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics.

It was the program's second loss at the Olympics since it dropped the 2008 final. It went 5-0-1 in London, 6-0 in Rio de Janeiro and 6-1 in Tokyo.

“It’s a long tournament," U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said. "We’ve got to learn from it and hopefully, if we get in that situation again, we can be a bit more poised.”

After its 10-9 loss to Hungary in group play in 2021, the U.S. ripped off four straight wins by a combined score of 63-26. That included a dominant 14-5 victory over Spain in the final.

This time around, it was a much different performance.

Ortiz scored five times on eight shots for Spain, which beat France 15-6 in its Group B opener on Saturday. Maica Garcia Godoy had two goals, and Paula Leiton Arrones also scored while taking advantage of the United States' youth at the center position.

“It feels great, but this is not the goal of the tournament,” Spain's Anni Espar Llaquet said. “It was an important game and we want to try to get ranked first in the group, but this means nothing.”

The U.S. began its Olympic schedule with an impressive 15-6 victory over Greece. It dropped to 18-2 this year ahead of Wednesday's game against Italy.

Rachel Fattal scored early in the third quarter to trim the U.S. deficit to 7-6. But Ortiz responded with four consecutive goals in a dazzling stretch.

“We should have been able to adjust a little quicker and when we did, you could see us slowly but surely crawling our way back," U.S. attacker Kaleigh Gilchrist said. “If we could have done a few things differently in the third quarter, who knows? But that’s the way it goes.”

The U.S. closed to 11-10 when Gilchrist scored with 5:35 left. The American team then had a chance to tie the game, but it committed a turnover.

Llaquet scored a big goal for Spain with 4:10 remaining, and goaltender Martina Terre stopped U.S. star Maddie Musselman's penalty shot to help close it out.

“I like penalties," Terre said. "They scored their first two, but the third one was my chance to finally stop that ball. I was grateful to save it, but I’m critical of myself. I need to be better and save more balls in the future.”

Jordan Raney scored a team-high two goals for the United States. Goaltender Ashleigh Johnson scored in the final seconds, but she made 13 saves on 26 shots in an uneven performance.

“I’m incredibly proud of how we came back, but I wasn’t pleased with how we handled being down there in the first place," Krikorian said.

“We got away from what the plan was. We stopped trusting each other a bit, and that’s how they were able to widen the gap.”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Spain's head coach Miguel Angel Oca Gaia and United States' head coach Adam Krikorian hug following their women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Supporters of Spain team celebrate after a women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Supporters of Spain team celebrate after a women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Spain's Anni Espar Llaquet, right, is blocked by United States' Kaleigh Gilchrist during a women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United States' Jovana Sekulic, left, and Spain's Nona Perez Vivas battle for the ball during a women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Spain's Paula Leiton Arrones celebrates after scoring during a women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

United States' head coach Adam Krikorian leaves after a women's water polo Group B preliminary match between USA and Spain at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

MELAMCHI, Nepal (AP) — In between the Himalayas' towering mountains, the town of Melamchi is no stranger to extreme weather, and its landscape bears the scars of years of floods and landslides.

Located just 50 kilometers (31 miles) outside Kathmandu, lush green mountainsides are dotted with landslips and rubble. Amid the debris, people live and work, and children play.

Saroj Lamichane, a 24-year-old resident of the region, says he still remembers “the terrifying sound of the flood.” Lamichane fled that night, returning only to collect belongings wedged between boulders and broken walls.

Many houses in Melamchi are on stilts to avoid the worst of the flooding. Still, floors are covered in a layer of loose rock. Windows have been ripped out of walls. And some buildings still slant after Nepal's devastating 2015 earthquake.

Farms are also not spared.

Sukuram Tamang, 50, lost his land and field to floods in 2021, and his home was damaged in a landslide this year. When The Associated Press visited, Tamang stood holding one of his goats — a literal handful of what survived Melamchi's incessant weather extremes.

“Even the little that remained has been swept away by floods earlier this year,” said Tamang's wife, Maya. “The river used to be a 20-minute walk from our house but during the floods, we were shocked to see it overflow and wash away everything we had.”

Another farmer, Sita Pandit, 50, took a loan to rebuild her home that was destroyed in the earthquake. But one year after construction finished, her new home was swept away by the 2021 floods. Rocks and debris now cover her farm.

In a 2021 report, the Kathmandu headquartered International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development found that cascading hazards are becoming more common in Nepal and the Hindu Kush Himalaya.

Rising temperatures are leading to heavy glacial melt and glacial lakes overflowing. They also lead to shifting rainfall patterns which bring heavy sediments downstream, said Sudan Bikash Maharjan, one of the authors of the 2021 report.

Maharjan said local and federal governments need to be better prepared and give people time to evacuate.

Until then, many work hard to rebuild their old lives. People reconstruct homes among the debris or build new ones entirely. They walk and live among pieces of homes and furniture. Layers of mud cover up the lives they once lived.

Follow Niranjan Shrestha on Instagram.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A girl runs in front of the recent landslide at Gyalthum, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Abandoned houses are visible in Chanaute Market, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Footprints are visible at Chanaute Market, Melamchi, northeast from Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, on the sand inside a house damaged by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A man gazes out from an abandoned house in Chanaute Market, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, damaged by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A man walks by abandoned houses in Chanaute Market, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, damaged by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Saroj Lamichane salvages bricks from the ruins of his house northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, that was destroyed by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

The sand-filled entrance of a house is visible in Chanaute Market, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, that was damaged by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Sukuram Tamang, 50, prepares to cook food inside a temporary shelter on rented land in Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, after he lost his home in a landslide. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Rocks and sand fill an abandoned home in Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, June 26, 2024, that was damaged by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A man sets a fish trap near homes abandoned after flooding at Chanaute Market, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Sukuram Tamang, 50, stands with his goat in front of where his house once stood after it was damaged by recent landslides in Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A worker uses an excavator to clear land for a road that would connect to the upper villages of Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Laxmi Jyoti, 41, walks near where her home used to be in Chanaute, Melamchi, northeast from Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, now covered with large rocks brought by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Suntali Jyoti, 56, sits where her house and field once stood, in Chanaute, Melamchi, northeast from Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, now covered with large rocks brought by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Children play volleyball with a landslide-damaged hill visible in the background at Saraswati Secondary School in Gyalthum, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Sita Pandit, 50, walks in her house at Chanaute Market, Melamchi, northeast of Kathmandu, Nepal on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, that was damaged by floods in 2021. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Kali Prasad Shrestha, 57, stands near Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, on the spot where his house once stood before it was swept away by floods in 2021.(AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)