Hockey and the Olympic Games
The Inaugural Olympic Hockey
Competition for men was held in London in 1908 with England, Ireland, Scotland
and Wales competing separately. With the addition of Germany and France, the
competition ran with six teams. After having made its first appearance at the
London Games, hockey was subsequently dropped from the 1912 Stockholm Games
after host nations were granted control over ‘optional sports’. It reappeared
in 1920 in Antwerp after pressure from Belgian hockey advocates before being
omitted again at Paris 1924, exactly 100 years ago. The formation of the
International Hockey Federation (FIH) in 1924 was not soon enough for the Paris
Olympics but it did grant hockey re-entry in Amsterdam in 1928. Hockey has been
on the programme ever since, with women’s hockey included for the first time in
Moscow in 1980. At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, hockey celebrated 100 years
as an Olympic sport. At the London 2012 Olympics, hockey was the third biggest
sport in terms of ticket sales with over 630,000 sold. The Olympics is the
ultimate hockey competition, with the Olympic gold medal being the most coveted
prize in the sport.
Venue for Paris Olympics
Yves-du-Manoir Stadium has
already been renovated several times, and the Hauts de-Seine
department, which owns this facility, will be launching a modernisation
programme to benefit its communities, associations, schools and universities.
The venue includes two (2) competition pitches and one (1) training pitch.
Paris 2024 Qualification
Overview – How did the teams get to Paris Olympics…
The winners of each Continental
Championship and the teams ranked first, second and third of each FIH Hockey
Olympic qualifier joined hosts France with berths at the Paris 2024 Olympic
hockey tournaments. The pools, which were determined based on the FIH World
Rankings as at 22 January 2024, are as follows:
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Competition Format
The hockey competition at the
Olympic Games Paris 2024 comprises women’s and men’s events, with the same
format and rules for both. In the preliminary round 12 teams are divided into
two pools of six. Each team plays every other team in its pool. The pools for
the men’s and women’s competitions were determined by the FIH World Rankings at
22 January 2024, shortly after the completion of the FIH Hockey Olympic
Qualifiers. Pool A: Seed 1; 4; 5; 8; 9; 12 Pool B: Seed 2; 3; 6; 7; 10; 11
Men’s competition
Pool A: Netherlands, Germany,
Great Britain, Spain, France, South Africa
Pool B: Belgium, India,
Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Ireland
Women’s competition
Pool A: Netherlands, Belgium,
Germany, Japan, China, France
Pool B: Australia, Argentina,
Great Britain, Spain, United States, South Africa
The top four teams in each pool
proceed to the crossover Quarter-Finals, with the remaining four teams
eliminated at this stage. The winners of the Quarter-Finals progress to the
Semi-Finals, the winners of which meet in the gold medal match. The losers of
the Semi-Finals will play for the bronze medal.
Overall Match Schedule as
below:
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The Teams – each Team
At the Olympic Games Paris 2024,
a team is made up of a maximum 16 players, composed of 11 players on the field
and up to five substitutes. Each team also has up to three “Ap” alternate
athletes that can be drafted into the squad as permanent replacements for
athletes who are forced to withdraw from the event for reasons such as injury.
Ap alternate athletes can only become competing athletes as per the conditions
outlined in the ‘Paris 2024 Late Athlete Replacement policy’, which can be
found in Appendix 6 of the Competition Regulations by clicking here.
The Officials that will manage
for both Men & Women matches are as below:
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Where to Watch in Malaysia:
RTM Sukan & RTMklik with 18 dedicated
Astro Channels.. Enjoy it folks!
Malaysia last played in Olympics was the Sydney 2000 Olympics, since then we have failed numerous times – been 24 years. See the team that played in Sydney Olympics 2000…or called as The Last Mohicans in Malaysian Men’s Field Hockey… I am proud to be able to play in 2 Olympics back to back...
Sydney 2000 Olympics - Malaysian Men's Hockey Team
Let’s enjoy the Olympics….
Regards to everyone
Maninderjit Singh (Mike) - Former Internationals
- Played in 2 Olympics – 1996 Atlanta & 2000 Sydney
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