The world's best field hockey players are heading to France.
The sport predates the modern Olympics, but men's competition only became an official Olympic event in 1908.
Women's sports were first featured in the Olympic Games in 1980, and since then the gender balance has improved: Of the 30 million athletes worldwide, approximately 51% are women and 49% are men.
How is Olympic field hockey played and which country is the best in the sport? Here's everything you need to know ahead of the men's and women's competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
How big is an Olympic field hockey arena?
Field hockey is played on a pitch that is 100 yards long and 60 yards wide.
There are three lines across the width of the field: one at midfield and one 25 yards from each backline. There is also a semicircle extending 16 yards from each goal, marking the area within which goals can be scored.
How big are Olympic field hockey goals?
Field hockey goals are 12 feet wide, 7 feet high and 4 feet deep.
What size is a field hockey ball?
Field hockey balls are dimpled and made of hard plastic, weigh 5.5 to 5.75 ounces, are about 9 inches in circumference, and can reach a maximum speed of 100 miles per hour.
Why are field hockey sticks curved?
A field hockey stick is J-shaped: the curved head is rounded on the right side and flat on the left side, allowing a player to hit the ball only with the flat side of the stick.
There are no left-handed field hockey sticks.
How many people are on an Olympic field hockey team?
There are 16 registered players. Each team has 11 players on the field, including the goalkeeper.
Olympic Field Hockey Formats
The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature two field hockey competitions: a men's tournament and a women's tournament.
Each tournament will feature 12 teams split into two groups. The group stage will consist of round robin matches, with the top four teams from each group progressing to the quarter finals. In pool group play, a win will earn 3 points in the standings, a draw will earn 1 point and a loss will earn 0 points.
After the quarterfinals and semifinals, the two semifinal winners will play for the gold medal and the two semifinal losers will play for the bronze medal.
olympic field hockey scores
Each goal in field hockey is worth one point, and the team with the most points wins.
Matches are played in four 15-minute quarters, with a two-minute break after the first and third quarters and a 15-minute break after the second quarter.
If a group stage match is tied after 4 quarters, the match will end in a draw and each team will receive 1 point in the standings. If a repechage or medal match is tied after 4 quarters, the teams will compete in a shootout to determine a winner.
Five players from each team take turns taking penalty strokes in a shootout. If the score is still tied after five players from each team have taken their penalty strokes, the shootout goes into a sudden death format, with the first team to score more goals after the same number of strokes being taken winning.
Olympic Field Hockey Medals Table
India is the most decorated country in the history of Olympic field hockey with 12 total medals and eight gold medals. Australia is next with 10 medals (1 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze), while Great Britain, Pakistan and Germany are tied for second place with three gold medals each.
Belgium won their first gold medal in the men's event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, while the Netherlands won their third gold medal in the women's event in four Olympics.
Has the United States ever won an Olympic medal in field hockey?
Team USA has won two field hockey medals in Olympic history.
The U.S. men's team placed third and won the bronze medal in 1932. The U.S. women's team won their only medal in 1984, defeating Australia in the bronze medal game.
The U.S. women's team has qualified for the 2024 Olympics, but the men's team has not qualified for an Olympics held outside the United States since 1956.
Paris Olympic Field Hockey Team
The teams and groups for the men's and women's field hockey competitions at the Paris Olympics are as follows:
Men's
Group A
- Netherlands
- Germany
- England
- Spain
- France
- South Africa
Group B
- Belgium
- India
- Australia
- Argentina
- new zealand
- Ireland
Women's
Group A
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Germany
- Japan
- China
- France
Group B
- Australia
- Argentina
- England
- Spain
- America
- South Africa
Paris Olympics Field Hockey Schedule
Field hockey at the Paris Olympics will take place from July 27 to August 9. The men's medal match will be held on August 8 and the women's medal match on August 9.
Field hockey venue at the Paris Olympics
Field hockey matches at the Paris Olympics will be played at the Yves du Manoir Stadium in Colombes, the only venue to have been used at the last Olympic Games in Paris, in 1924.
