The Olympic cycle sees some expected departures and with an extra year tacked on to the Olympiad, it made for much relief when the flame was lit, the matches played and the event staged without major upheaval.

True, there were few spectators — as volunteers and the occasional athlete or VIP from another sport wandered into an echoing chamber — but the matches went ahead and we had 74 go without a murmur and two champions crowned — Serbia men and United States of America’s women.

Just getting to Tokyo was no mean feat with the paperwork done, the medical advice adhered to and then the airport arrival almost excruciating before reaching the accommodation. From then on the event was a relative breeze.

We left Tokyo with the rightful champions and some unexpected results and classifications and now look forward to another Olympics just three years away. That gap has lessened as the year draws to a close.

It was fantastic to see the champions go back to back with USA women making it an incredible three in a row. What now for captain Maggie Steffens (above) and Melissa Seidemann?  We learnt this week that head coach Adam Krikorian had his contract extended to 2024. They have three golds from three editions and a fourth could be either tantalising or a tournament too far. Time will tell. Then there was Maddie Musselman, Tokyo MVP, who managed to just outshine her peers, grappling the accolade from Steffens who won it in London and Rio de Janeiro.

The continued run of Spain as the leading European nation was exciting and its contribution to the final was stimulating. Young Elena Ruiz was a revelation in Tokyo and she went on to spearhead the country’s junior team to world domination in Netanya, Israel soon after.

And how about Hungary, the eventual Olympic bronze medallist, beating USA in the rounds? That was a sight for sore eyes and showed others just what is possible on the highest platform of our code.

In the men’s competition, it was a departing party for six of the Serbian national team as they played their hearts out for the gold medal and then said goodbye to the international stage.

The great Filip Filipovic (10 White above), that withering left-hander at the age of 34, inspired his team and took out the Most Valuable Player crown once again. His departure from the world stage will be sorely felt, although Europeans will still get the chance to see what he has to offer in club play.

The player who has intrigued me most is Andrija Prlainovic (above), whose steady attacking shots could break open a match. Like Filipovic, he is 34 and leaves with bronze medals from 2008 and 2012 and the last two gold medals.

They are joined in the international wilderness by the Pijetlovic brothers (Dusko and Branislav), Stefan Mitrovic and Milan Aleksic.

Greece was unbelievable in reaching the final and still giving when it came to the final. There will be players missing in the current Olympiad, but we must thank dynamic captain Ioannis Fountoulis, who drilled from outside with a consistency few could match, for his contribution. The Greek juniors slipped from their two previous world championship crowns, but several players are shining in the USA college system and we can expect Greece to be up there again when Paris beckons.

Hungary was inspired to the bronze medal — beating medal favourite Spain 9-5 — by the retiring goalkeeper Viktor Nagy who had an outstanding swansong.

The year started with the two Olympic Games Qualification Tournaments with Montenegro winning the men’s in Rotterdam, Netherlands and finishing a disappointing eighth in Tokyo, losing in a penalty shootout to Italy. It was a letdown for Aleksandar Ivovic, who scored the most goals in Tokyo (24) in his final Olympics.

Greece converted second place in Rotterdam into Olympic silver and Croatia, third in Rotterdam, slipped to fifth in Tokyo.

In the women’s tournament in Trieste, Italy, Hungary pipped Netherlands for the gold medal and in Tokyo, Hungary, with captain Rita Keszthelyi the spur, earned the bronze medal while the Dutch, with the incomparable Maud Megens (above) and tournament highest scorer Simone van der Kraats (28), had to settle for sixth.

My most exciting player of the year? Japan’s Yusuke Inaba! His ability to create something from nothing and score at will could have seen him finish atop the scoring had Japan made it to the medal rounds. We will hear more of him.

And what about five-time Olympians Pietro Figlioli (ITA) and Felipe Perrone (ESP)? Have we seen the last of them?

My final say is on the number of nations who fronted FINA competitions this year from Serbia to Peru, USA to Thailand and many newcomers who gained a taste of what international water polo is all about. Colombia men and women (pictured) won the Challengers' Cup in Barranquilla, Colombia, improving the depth of our international charter.

Enjoy the festive season and we look forward to an action-packed first half of 2022 that includes the FINA World Championship in Fukuoka, Japan.

The legacy of Tokyo was in no small measure created by the Media All-Star teams:

Men: Branislav Mitrovic (SRB) — Goalkeeper; Roger Tahull (ESP) — Centre Forward;

Stylianos Argyropoulos (GRE), Aleksandar Ivovic (MNE), Yusuke Inaba (JPN), Filip Filipovic (SRB), Krisztian Manhercz (HUN).

Women: Ashleigh Johnson (USA, above left) — Goalkeeper; Rebecca Parkes (HUN) — Centre Forward; Anna Espar (ESP), Maddie Musselman (USA), Bea Ortiz (ESP), Ekaterina Prokofyeva (ROC), Simone van der Kraats (NED).