Here’s what you need to know about field hockey at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
When did field hockey become an Olympic sport?
Men have competed in Olympic field hockey since 1908 when London played host to the Summer Games, but the American men didn’t participate until the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, where they captured their first and only Olympic medal in the sport (bronze).
Field hockey on the women’s side entered the Olympics in 1980, when Moscow hosted and the United States boycotted the Games. The U.S. women won their first and only Olympic field hockey medal at the 1984 Los Angeles games, winning a bronze.
How does Olympic field hockey work?
In field hockey, each side has 11 players on the field (16 on the roster) and vies to score more goals than the opponent using sticks to dribble and shoot. Goals are worth one point. Players are not allowed to shoot from outside the striking circle on the field, and the ball is not allowed to be moved by anything other than a player’s stick.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature 12-team tournaments on the men’s and women’s sides. The tournaments will open with pool play, two groups of six teams. Each team will play five games, tallying three points for a win, one for a tie and zero for a loss. The top four teams from each side move on to the quarterfinals for a bracket-style tournament. The winners of the semifinal matches face off in the gold-medal match while the semifinal losers will vie for the bronze medal.
Here’s the field for the Paris Olympic men’s competition: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain.
Here’s the field for the Paris Olympic women’s competition: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, China, Japan, Netherlands, United States, South Africa and Spain.
Who are the top Team USA athletes in field hockey?
The U.S. women did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, so the Paris Games marks their return to the field – their fourth Olympic appearance since 2008.
The 16-player roster will be named in mid-June, but look out for goalkeeper Kelsey Bing, Abby Tamer and Ashley Hoffman. Tamer and Hoffman scored fourth-quarter goals in a comeback win against Japan earlier this year that qualified the Americans for Paris.
What’s the international landscape in Olympic field hockey?
The women from the Netherlands are the reigning Olympic gold medalists. They have captured four gold medals, including two of the last three, and nine total medals in Olympic competition.
On the men’s side, India is the most successful team historically with eight gold medals. However, there have been three different gold medal winners in each of the last three summer Games: Belgium defeated Australia in the gold-medal match in Tokyo for their first Olympic medal in the sport; Argentina knocked off Belgium for gold in Rio 2016; and Germany defeated the Netherlands in London 2012.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Field hockey at 2024 Paris Olympics: How it works, what to know
