| Date | 20 July – 2 August 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Alonzo Herndon Stadium, Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia / Panther Stadium, Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia | |
| Participants | 192 from 12 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools advance teams to classification round matches. | |
The Dutch had been a force in field hockey since the 1928 Olympics, winning the World Championships on two occasions. However, by 1996 they had never won an Olympic title had lost their last four Olympic semi-finals, having to settle for 3rd or 4th. In recent years, they had bad luck in major events, giving away leads in the finals of the 1994 World Championships and 1995 European Championships. In Atlanta, the Dutch reached their first Olympic final in 44 years, beating archrivals Germany thanks to three goals by Taco van den Honert. The other contender for the gold medal turned out to be Spain. This was a major surprise as they had only placed 9th at the 1994 World Championships. Wins over Germany and Australia made them deserved finalists.
Spain even took the lead in the final through star player Víctor Pujol. This unleashed the Dutch, and specialist Floris Jan Bovelander pushed two penalty corners behind the Spanish goalkeeper. The victory was sealed shortly before full time, with a third penalty corner goal by Bram Lomans. The medals were presented by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, himself a former roller hockey player, who had hoped to award the gold to his countrymen. Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, in attendance, commented “we’ll gladly leave the silver fleet to the Spanish”, referring to the 1628 capture of a Spanish treasure fleet by Dutch privateer Piet Hein.
| Date | 20 – 29 July 1996 |
|---|
| Date | 20 – 28 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pool. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | ESP | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 14-5 | ||
| 2 | Germany | GER | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10-3 | ||
| 3 | India | IND | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8-3 | ||
| 4 | Pakistan | PAK | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11-8 | ||
| 5 | Argentina | ARG | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9-13 | ||
| 6 | United States | USA | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3-23 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 20 Jul 9:00 | Spain | ESP | 1 – 0 | Germany | GER | |
| Match #2 | 20 Jul 17:30 | Pakistan | PAK | 4 – 0 | United States | USA | |
| Match #3 | 20 Jul 20:00 | Argentina | ARG | 1 – 0 | India | IND | |
| Match #4 | 22 Jul 9:00 | Spain | ESP | 3 – 0 | Pakistan | PAK | |
| Match #5 | 22 Jul 17:30 | Germany | GER | 1 – 1 | India | IND | |
| Match #6 | 22 Jul 20:00 | Argentina | ARG | 5 – 2 | United States | USA | |
| Match #7 | 24 Jul 9:00 | India | IND | 4 – 0 | United States | USA | |
| Match #8 | 24 Jul 17:30 | Spain | ESP | 2 – 1 | Argentina | ARG | |
| Match #9 | 24 Jul 20:00 | Germany | GER | 3 – 1 | Pakistan | PAK | |
| Match #10 | 26 Jul 9:00 | Germany | GER | 3 – 0 | Argentina | ARG | |
| Match #11 | 26 Jul 17:30 | India | IND | 0 – 0 | Pakistan | PAK | |
| Match #12 | 26 Jul 20:00 | Spain | ESP | 7 – 1 | United States | USA | |
| Match #13 | 28 Jul 9:00 | Pakistan | PAK | 6 – 2 | Argentina | ARG | |
| Match #14 | 28 Jul 17:30 | Germany | GER | 3 – 0 | United States | USA | |
| Match #15 | 28 Jul 20:00 | India | IND | 3 – 1 | Spain | ESP |
| Date | 21 – 29 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Round-robin pool. |
| Pos | Team | NOC | Wins | Ties | Losses | Points | Goals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | NED | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 14-6 | ||
| 2 | Australia | AUS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13-7 | ||
| 3 | Great Britain | GBR | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8-8 | ||
| 4 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 12-13 | ||
| 5 | South Africa | RSA | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7-12 | ||
| 6 | Malaysia | MAS | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7-15 |
| Match | Date/Time | Team | NOC | Result | Team | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 21 Jul 9:00 | Netherlands | NED | 2 – 0 | Malaysia | MAS | |
| Match #2 | 21 Jul 17:30 | Great Britain | GBR | 2 – 2 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #3 | 21 Jul 20:00 | Australia | AUS | 1 – 1 | South Africa | RSA | |
| Match #4 | 23 Jul 9:00 | Great Britain | GBR | 2 – 2 | Netherlands | NED | |
| Match #5 | 23 Jul 17:30 | Malaysia | MAS | 2 – 2 | South Africa | RSA | |
| Match #6 | 23 Jul 20:00 | Australia | AUS | 3 – 2 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #7 | 25 Jul 9:00 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 3 – 3 | South Africa | RSA | |
| Match #8 | 25 Jul 17:30 | Great Britain | GBR | 2 – 2 | Malaysia | MAS | |
| Match #9 | 25 Jul 20:00 | Netherlands | NED | 3 – 2 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #10 | 27 Jul 9:00 | Australia | AUS | 5 – 1 | Malaysia | MAS | |
| Match #11 | 27 Jul 17:30 | Great Britain | GBR | 2 – 0 | South Africa | RSA | |
| Match #12 | 27 Jul 20:00 | Netherlands | NED | 3 – 1 | Republic of Korea | KOR | |
| Match #13 | 29 Jul 9:00 | Australia | AUS | 2 – 0 | Great Britain | GBR | |
| Match #14 | 29 Jul 17:30 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 4 – 2 | Malaysia | MAS | |
| Match #15 | 29 Jul 20:00 | Netherlands | NED | 4 – 1 | South Africa | RSA |
| Date | 31 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Classification matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul 11:00 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 3 – 3 | India | IND | 5-3 PS |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul 11:00 | Pakistan | PAK | 2 – 1 | Great Britain | GBR |
| Date | 31 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Classification matches. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul 8:30 | Argentina | ARG | 4 – 4 | Malaysia | MAS | 3-0 PS |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul 8:30 | South Africa | RSA | 3 – 0 | United States | USA |
| Date | 31 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul 17:30 | Spain | ESP | 2 – 1 | Australia | AUS | |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul 20:00 | Netherlands | NED | 3 – 1 | Germany | GER |
| Date | 1 – 2 August 1996 |
|---|---|
| Format | Medal round. |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitors | NOC | Result | Competitors | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 02 Aug 19:30 | Netherlands | NED | 3 – 1 | Spain | ESP | |
| Match 3/4 | 02 Aug 17:00 | Australia | AUS | 3 – 2 | Germany | GER | |
| Match 5/6 | 02 Aug 8:30 | Republic of Korea | KOR | 3 – 1 | Pakistan | PAK | |
| Match 7/8 | 01 Aug 11:00 | Great Britain | GBR | 4 – 3 | India | IND | |
| Match 9/10 | 01 Aug 8:30 | Argentina | ARG | 3 – 2 | South Africa | RSA | |
| Match 11/12 | 01 Aug 8:30 | Malaysia | MAS | 4 – 1 | United States | USA |