Hockey

Hockey is the oldest known ball-and-stick game. Records exist of it having been played in Persia in 2000 BCE. It became so popular by the Middle Ages that it was banned in England for a time, because it interfered with the practice of archery, which was the basis for national defense.

The modern game of hockey, however, was developed in England in the late 19th century. It spread throughout the British Empire, as a result, and most of the dominant nations in the early years of the sport were members of that Empire. This includes India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain. In those early years, India’s dominance in this team sport at the Olympics was matched only by the United States’ dominance of basketball, Hungary’s dominance of water polo, and Canadian and Soviet dominance of ice hockey. Between 1928 and 1956, India won six gold medals and 30 consecutive games.

Hockey first appeared on the Olympic Programme in 1908 and 1920. It was not included in the Olympic Programme in 1924, because no international federation existed. In 1928, it was held at Amsterdam and has been an Olympic sport since. In 1980, hockey for women was first introduced as an Olympic sport.

As of 2024, the Netherlands leads the medal count with 20 medals and eight golds, followed by India, with 13 medals and also eight golds. Seven male hockey players, all Indian, have won three gold medals, among them Leslie Claudius and Udham Singh, both of them adding a silver medal to their three Olympic titles. They are followed by Teun de Nooijer, from the Netherlands, also with four Olympic medals (two golds).

In the women’s competition, Dutchwomen Lied Welten and Eva de Goede and Australian Rechelle Hawkes have all won three gold medals. Welten and de Goede have four Olympic hockey medals, as does Argentinian player Lucha Aymar (two silver and two bronze).

Hockey is governed internationally by the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH), which was formed on 7 January 1924, in Paris, with seven founding members: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland. On the other side, the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA) was founded in 1927, with eight founding members: Australia, Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the United States, and Wales. When women’s hockey was added to the Olympic Programme in 1980, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanded that the two federations merge. On 23 April 1983, the IFWHA was dissolved, and women’s hockey became part of the FIH. As of 2024, the FIH had 139 member national federations.