Hockey at the 2024 Summer Olympics

Both men’s and women’s hockey took place on two hockey pitches at the Stade Yves-de-Manoir, named after a famous French rugby player, where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and a variety of sports were held at the 1924 Games (it being the main stadium for the 1924 Games). There was one qualifier from each of the five continents – the continental champions. Besides the host nation France, the remainder of the qualifiers were determined from two qualification tournaments based upon placements at continental championships.

Matches were played over four 15 minute quarters, with 2 minutes rest after each quarter and 15 minutes rest at half-time. In elimination contests, scores tied after 60 minutes resulted in a shoot-out. Squads of 19 players per team were allowed, with any 16 being selected for any match and 11 players on the field of play at any one time. Each team had one referral they could use to challenge an umpire’s decision during a match – if the referral was proved correct, it was retained by the successful team.

Of note was an incident during the evening matches on day five, when two matches were played in front of empty stadia when reports of an imminent storm were received by the organizers, reminiscent of the 2020 Games played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, the anticipated storm didn’t arrive until after the matches had finished!

In a sad afternote to the men’s hockey tournament, Tom Craig (AUS) was arrested for allegedly buying cocaine after Australia had been eliminated from the men’s tournament. Consequently, Craig left the Olympic village and lost his remaining Games privileges, although no charges were forthcoming, just a warning from the police.

Coming into the Olympics, the Netherlands women were overwhelming favorites to retain their Olympic crown, but the men’s competition was thought to be quite open. In the end, the Dutch won both competitions, the first time that a nation had won both the men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments at the same Games.