Field hockey made its debut at the Modern Olympic Games as a men's competition in the 1908 Games in London. It was removed from the Olympic schedule of the Summer Olympic Games for the 1924 Paris Games and was reintroduced in the 1928 Amsterdam Games. The Women's field hockey was introduced into the Olympic programme at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Quick Facts IOC Code, Governing body ...
Field hockey at the Summer Olympics
Thumb
IOC CodeHOC
Governing bodyFIH
Events2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Summer Olympics

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The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was founded in 1924 and governs the hockey events. Until the 1988 Summer Olympics, the tournaments were invitational, but a qualification system was introduced since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The last edition at Paris was the 25th occurrence of the men's event and 12th consecutive occurrence of women's event in the Olympics.

India holds the record for the most appearances in the Olympic men's competitions (22) while Australia and Netherlands hold the same record in women's competitions (11). India leads the medal tally for the men's events with 13 medals while the Netherlands heads the women's events with 10 medals.

Great Britain won the first two editions of the men's event in 1908 and 1920. India won the gold medal in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964 with Pakistan winning three gold and silver medals each between the 1956 and 1984 Games. The matches are played on artificial turf since 1976. Since the late 1980s, European nations have dominated the hockey events with Germany and Netherlands having won three gold medals each in the men's event. In the women's event, Netherlands and Australia have been dominant, having won five and three gold medals respectively since its introduction in 1980.

History

Summarize
Perspective

Field hockey was introduced at the Modern Olympic Games as a men's competition at the 1908 Games in London. Great Britain won the first two editions in 1908 (as England) and 1920.[1] It was removed from the Olympic schedule of the Summer Olympic Games for the 1924 Paris Games because of the lack of an international sporting structure. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was founded in Paris that year as a response to the same.[2] Men's field hockey was added to the Olympics for the next Olympic Games in 1928 Games held at Amsterdam.[1][3]

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Indian team that won the gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Starting in 1928, India won the gold medal in seven out of eight Olympics till 1964 including six consecutive gold medals from the 1928 Olympics to 1956.[4][5] Pakistan won its first gold medal in 1960 and won three gold and silver medals each in a run lasting from 1956 to 1984.[6] West Germany won the gold medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics, for the first gold medal by a non-Asian country since 1928. Olympic field hockey games were first played on artificial turf at the 1976 Montreal Games and was won by New Zealand.[1][7] The domination of both the Asian countries came to an end in the late 1980s with India winning its last gold medal in the competition in 1980 and Pakistan in 1984.[5][6]

Though the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA) was founded way back in 1927, Women's field hockey made its debut at the Summer Olympics only at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and was won by Zimbabwe. On 23 April 1983, women’s hockey programme was taken over by FIH and the IFWHA was dissolved.[3] Great Britain won its first gold medal in the men's event since 1920 in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.[1]

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Netherlands women's team after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics

Until the 1988 Olympics, the tournament was invitational but FIH introduced a qualification system starting from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Since the 1990s, European countries have been dominant in the men's sport with the only exceptions being the wins by Australia in 2004 and Argentina in 2016. Both Germany and Netherlands have won three gold medals each, with the only other European winner being Belgium in 2020.[1] In the women's events, Netherlands and Australia have been dominant, having won five and three gold medals respectively since its introduction to the Olympic programme in 1980. The only other winners of the women's event were Spain in 1992, Germany in 2004, and Great Britain in 2016.[1]

The last edition of both the men's and women's events were held as a part of the 2024 Paris Olympics with Netherlands winning both the events.[8][9] India holds the record for the most appearances in the Olympic men's competitions (22) and Spain has appeared in the most Olympic men's competitions (19) without winning the men's gold medal with the best place finishes being the silver medal won in 1980, 1996, and 2008.[5][10] Australia and Netherlands hold the record for the most appearances in the Olympic women's competitions (11).[3] India leads the medal tally for the men's events with 13 medals including eight gold medals. Netherlands heads the women's events with 10 medals including five gold medals and also leads the overall medal tally with 20 medals (eight gold, six silver and six bronze).[11][3]

Men

Summarize
Perspective

Results

More information Year, Host ...
Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match Number of teams
Gold medal Score Silver medal Bronze medal Score Fourth place
1908
Details
London, Great Britain
Great Britain

(England)
8–1
Great Britain
(Ireland)

Great Britain
(Scotland)

Great Britain
(Wales)
[a] 6
1912 Stockholm, Sweden No tournament No tournament
1920
Details
Antwerp, Belgium
Great Britain
[b]
Denmark

Belgium
[b]
France
4
1924 Paris, France No tournament No tournament
1928
Details
Amsterdam, Netherlands
India
3–0
Netherlands

Germany
3–0
Belgium
9
1932
Details
Los Angeles, United States
India
[c]
Japan

United States
[c] 3
1936
Details
Berlin, Germany
India
8–1
Germany

Netherlands
4–3
France
11
1948
Details
London, Great Britain
India
4–0
Great Britain

Netherlands
1–1
4–1
(Replay)

Pakistan
13
1952
Details
Helsinki, Finland
India
6–1
Netherlands

Great Britain
2–1
Pakistan
12
1956
Details
Melbourne, Australia
India
1–0
Pakistan

United Team of Germany[d]
3–1
Great Britain
12
1960
Details
Rome, Italy
Pakistan
1–0
India

Spain
2–1
Great Britain
16
1964
Details
Tokyo, Japan
India
1–0
Pakistan

Australia
3–2
after extra time

Spain
15
1968
Details
Mexico City, Mexico
Pakistan
2–1
Australia

India
2–1
West Germany
16
1972
Details
Munich, West Germany
West Germany
1–0
Pakistan

India
2–1
Netherlands
16
1976
Details
Montreal, Canada
New Zealand
1–0
Australia

Pakistan
3–2
Netherlands
11
1980
Details
Moscow, Soviet Union
India
4–3
Spain

Soviet Union
2–1
Poland
6
1984
Details
Los Angeles, United States
Pakistan
2–1
after extra time

West Germany

Great Britain
3–2
Australia
12
1988
Details
Seoul, South Korea
Great Britain
3–1
West Germany

Netherlands
2–1
Australia
12
1992
Details
Barcelona, Spain
Germany
2–1
Australia

Pakistan
4–3
Netherlands
12
1996
Details
Atlanta, United States
Netherlands
3–1
Spain

Australia
3–2
Germany
12
2000
Details
Sydney, Australia
Netherlands
3–3
after extra time
(5–4)
Penalty strokes

South Korea

Australia
6–3
Pakistan
12
2004
Details
Athens, Greece
Australia
2–1
after extra time

Netherlands

Germany
4–3
after extra time

Spain
12
2008
Details
Beijing, China
Germany
1–0
Spain

Australia
6–2
Netherlands
12
2012
Details
London, Great Britain
Germany
2–1
Netherlands

Australia
3–1
Great Britain
12
2016
Details
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Argentina
4–2
Belgium

Germany
1–1
(4–3)
Penalty shootout

Netherlands
12
2020
Details
Tokyo, Japan
Belgium
1–1
(3–2)
Penalty shootout

Australia

India
5–4
Germany
12
2024
Details
Paris, France
Netherlands
1–1
(3–1)
Penalty shootout

Germany

India
2–1
Spain
12
Close

Men's medal table

More information Rank, Nation ...
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 India[e]81413
2 Netherlands34310
3 Pakistan3328
4 Great Britain3249
5 Germany3238
6 Australia14510
7 West Germany1203
8 Belgium1113
9 Argentina1001
 New Zealand1001
11 Spain0314
12 Denmark0101
 Japan0101
 South Korea0101
15 Soviet Union0011
 United States0011
 United Team of Germany0011
Totals (17 entries)25252676
Close

Top four statistics

More information Team, Winners ...
Team Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place
 India[e] 8 (1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964, 1980) 1 (1960) 4 (1968, 1972, 2020, 2024)
 Germany[f] 4 (1972*, 1992, 2008, 2012) 4 (1936*, 1984, 1988, 2024) 4 (1928, 1956, 2004, 2016) 3 (1968, 1996, 2020)
 Netherlands 3 (1996, 2000, 2024) 4 (1928*, 1952, 2004, 2012) 3 (1936, 1948, 1988) 5 (1972, 1976, 1992, 2008, 2016)
 Pakistan 3 (1960, 1968, 1984) 3 (1956, 1964, 1972) 2 (1976, 1992) 3 (1948, 1952, 2000)
 Great Britain 3 (1908*, 1920, 1988) 2 (1908*, 1948*) 4 (1908*, 1908*, 1952, 1984) 3 (1956, 1960, 2012*)
 Australia 1 (2004) 4 (1968, 1976, 1992, 2020) 5 (1964, 1996, 2000*, 2008, 2012) 2 (1984, 1988)
 Belgium 1 (2020) 1 (2016) 1 (1920*) 1 (1928)
 New Zealand 1 (1976)
 Argentina 1 (2016)
 Spain 3 (1980, 1996, 2008) 1 (1960) 3 (1964, 2004, 2024)
 Denmark 1 (1920)
 Japan 1 (1932)
 South Korea 1 (2000)
 United States 1 (1932*)
 Soviet Union 1 (1980*)
 France 2 (1920, 1936)
 Poland 1 (1980)
Close
* = host nation

Team appearances

Since the debut of the hockey programme in 1908, 45 teams have competed in at least one Olympic Games.

More information Team, Total ...
Team United Kingdom
1908
Belgium
1920
Netherlands
1928
United States
1932
Nazi Germany
1936
United Kingdom
1948
Finland
1952
Australia
1956
Italy
1960
Japan
1964
Mexico
1968
West Germany
1972
Canada
1976
Soviet Union
1980
United States
1984
South Korea
1988
Spain
1992
United States
1996
Australia
2000
Greece
2004
China
2008
United Kingdom
2012
Brazil
2016
Japan
2020
France
2024
Total
 Afghanistan 6th8th11th3
 Argentina 5th14th14th11th8th11th9th8th11th10th1st7th8th13
 Australia 5th6th3rd2nd5th2nd4th4th2nd3rd3rd1st3rd3rd6th2nd6th17
 Austria 9th8th7th3
 Belgium 3rd4th9th5th9th7th11th11th9th10th9th9th5th2nd1st5th16
 Brazil 12th1
 Canada 13th10th12th11th10th10th11th12th8
 China 11th1
 CIS 10thDefunct1
 Cuba 5th1
 Denmark 2nd5th10th11th16th5
 East Germany 11thDefunct1
 Egypt 12th12th2
 England 1stPart of Great Britain1
 Finland 9th1
 France 6th4th5th4th8th11th10th10th12th11th10
 Germany 5th3rd2nd5th1st4th5th3rd1st1st3rd4th2nd13
 Great Britain 1st2nd3rd4th4th9th12th6th3rd1st6th7th6th9th5th4th9th5th7th19
 Hong Kong 15th1
 Hungary 8th1
 India 1st1st1st1st1st1st2nd1st3rd3rd7th1st5th6th7th8th7th7th12th8th3rd3rd22
 Ireland 2nd10th10th3
 Italy 11th13th2
 Japan 2nd7th14th7th13th11th6
 Kenya 10th7th6th8th13th9th12th7
 Malaysia 9th9th15th8th8th10th9th11th11th9
 Mexico 16th16th2
 Netherlands 2nd3rd3rd2nd9th7th5th4th4th6th3rd4th1st1st2nd4th2nd4th6th1st20
 New Zealand 6th5th13th7th9th1st7th8th6th7th9th7th9th12th14
 Pakistan 4th4th2nd1st2nd1st2nd3rd1st5th3rd6th4th5th8th7th16
 Poland 6th12th11th4th12th5
 Rhodesia 11thDefunct1
 Scotland 3rdPart of Great Britain1
 Singapore 8th1
 South Africa 10th10th12th11th10th9th6
 South Korea 10th5th2nd8th6th8th6
 Soviet Union# 3rd7thDefunct2
 Spain 7th11th3rd4th6th7th6th2nd8th9th5th2nd9th4th2nd6th5th8th4th19
  Switzerland 7th5th5th7th15th5
 Tanzania 6th1
 Uganda 15th1
 United States 3rd11th11th12th12th12th6
 United Team of Germany 3rd7th5thDefunct3
 Wales 3rdPart of Great Britain1
 West Germany 4th1st5th2nd2ndDefunct5
Total649311131212161516161161212121212121212121212
Close
# = states or teams that have since split into two or more independent teams

Debut of teams

More information Year, Debuting teams ...
Year Debuting teams No. CT Successor or
renamed teams
1908  England,  France,  Germany,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales 6 6
1920  Belgium,  Denmark 2 8  Great Britain
1928  Austria,  India,  Netherlands,  Spain,   Switzerland 5 13
1932  Japan,  United States 2 15
1936  Afghanistan,  Hungary 2 17
1948  Argentina,  Pakistan 2 19
1952  Finland,  Italy,  Poland 3 22
1956  Australia,  Kenya,  Malaya,  New Zealand,  Singapore 5 27  United Team of Germany
1960 No debut 0 27
1964  Canada,  Hong Kong,  Rhodesia 3 30  Malaysia
1968  East Germany,  Mexico 2 32  West Germany
1972  Uganda 1 33
1976 None 0 33
1980  Cuba,  Soviet Union,  Tanzania 3 36
1984 None 0 36
1988  South Korea 1 37
1992  Egypt 1 38  Germany, CIS
1996  South Africa 1 39
2000 None 0 39
2004 None 0 39
2008  China 1 40
2012 None 0 40
2016  Brazil 1 41
2020 None 0 41
2024 None 0 41
Close

Women

Summarize
Perspective

Results

More information Year, Host ...
Year Host Gold medal match Bronze medal match Number of teams
Gold medal Score Silver medal Bronze medal Score Fourth place
1980
Details
Moscow, Soviet Union
Zimbabwe
[g]
Czechoslovakia

Soviet Union
[g]
India
6
1984
Details
Los Angeles, United States
Netherlands
[h]
West Germany

United States
(10–5)
Penalty strokes[i]

Australia
6
1988
Details
Seoul, South Korea
Australia
2–0
South Korea

Netherlands
3–1
Great Britain
8
1992
Details
Barcelona, Spain
Spain
2–1
after extra time

Germany

Great Britain
4–3
South Korea
8
1996
Details
Atlanta, United States
Australia
3–1
South Korea

Netherlands
0–0
after extra time
(4–3)
Penalty strokes

Great Britain
8
2000
Details
Sydney, Australia
Australia
3–1
Argentina

Netherlands
2–0
Spain
10
2004
Details
Athens, Greece
Germany
2–1
Netherlands

Argentina
1–0
China
10
2008
Details
Beijing, China
Netherlands
2–0
China

Argentina
3–1
Germany
12
2012
Details
London, Great Britain
Netherlands
2–0
Argentina

Great Britain
3–1
New Zealand
12
2016
Details
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Great Britain
3–3
(2–0)
Penalty shootout

Netherlands

Germany
2–1
New Zealand
12
2020
Details
Tokyo, Japan
Netherlands
3–1
Argentina

Great Britain
4–3
India
12
2024
Details
Paris, France
Netherlands
1–1
(3–1)
Penalty shootout

China

Argentina
2–2
(3–1)
Penalty shootout

Belgium
12
Close

Women's medal table

More information Rank, Nation ...
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands52310
2 Australia3003
3 Germany1113
4 Great Britain1034
5 Spain1001
 Zimbabwe1001
7 Argentina0336
8 China0202
 South Korea0202
10 Czechoslovakia0101
 West Germany0101
12 Soviet Union0011
 United States0011
Totals (13 entries)12121236
Close

Top four statistics

More information Team, Winners ...
Team Winners Runners-up Third place Fourth place
 Netherlands 5 (1984, 2008, 2012, 2020, 2024) 2 (2004, 2016) 3 (1988, 1996, 2000)
 Australia 3 (1988, 1996, 2000*) 1 (1984)
 Germany[j] 1 (2004) 2 (1984, 1992) 1 (2016) 1 (2008)
 Great Britain 1 (2016) 3 (1992, 2012*, 2020) 2 (1988, 1996)
 Spain 1 (1992*) 1 (2000)
 Zimbabwe 1 (1980)
 Argentina 3 (2000, 2012, 2020) 3 (2004, 2008, 2024)
 South Korea 2 (1988*, 1996) 1 (1992)
 China 2 (2008*, 2024) 1 (2004)
 Czechoslovakia 1 (1980)
 Soviet Union 1 (1980*)
 United States 1 (1984*)
 India 2 (1980, 2020)
 New Zealand 2 (2012, 2016)
 Belgium 1 (2024)
Close
* = host nation

Team appearances

Since its debut at the 1980 Games, 23 teams have competed in at least one Olympic Games.

More information Team, Total ...
Team Soviet Union
1980
United States
1984
South Korea
1988
Spain
1992
United States
1996
Australia
2000
Greece
2004
China
2008
United Kingdom
2012
Brazil
2016
Japan
2020
France
2024
Total
 Argentina 7th7th2nd3rd3rd2nd7th2nd3rd9
 Australia 4th1st5th1st1st5th5th5th6th5th5th11
 Austria 5th1
 Belgium 11th4th2
 Canada 5th6th7th3
 China 5th4th2nd6th9th9th2nd7
 Czechoslovakia# 2ndDefunct1
 France 12th1
 Germany 2nd6th7th1st4th7th3rd6th6th9
 Great Britain 4th3rd4th8th6th3rd1st3rd8th9
 India 4th12th4th3
 Ireland 10th1
 Japan 8th10th9th10th11th10th6
 Netherlands 1st3rd6th3rd3rd2nd1st1st2nd1st1st11
 New Zealand 6th8th6th6th12th4th4th8th8
 Poland 6th1
 South Africa 10th9th11th10th12th11th6
 South Korea 2nd4th2nd9th7th9th8th11th8
 Soviet Union# 3rdDefunct1
 Spain 1st8th4th10th7th8th7th7th8
 United States 3rd8th5th8th12th5th9th7
 West Germany 2nd5thDefunct2
 Zimbabwe 1st1
Total6688810101212121212
Close
# = states or teams that have since split into two or more independent teams

Debut of teams

More information Year, Debuting teams ...
Year Debuting teams No. CT Successor or
renamed teams
1980  Austria,  Czechoslovakia *,  India,  Poland,  Soviet Union *,  Zimbabwe 6 6
1984  Australia,  Canada,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  United States,  West Germany * 6 12
1988  Argentina,  Great Britain,  South Korea 3 15
1992  Spain 1 16  Germany
1996 No debuts 0 16
2000  China,  South Africa 2 18
2004 No debuts 0 18
2008  Japan 1 19
2012  Belgium 1 20
2016 No debuts 0 20
2020  Ireland 1 21
2024  France 1 22
Close
* = Defunct Team

Medal table

Thumb
The medal ceremony of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome

Source:[12]

More information Rank, Nation ...
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Netherlands (NED)86620
2 India (IND)[e]81413
3 Australia (AUS)44513
4 Germany (GER)43411
5 Great Britain (GBR)42713
6 Pakistan (PAK)3328
7 Argentina (ARG)1337
8 Spain (ESP)1315
9 West Germany (FRG)*1304
10 Belgium (BEL)1113
11 New Zealand (NZL)1001
 Zimbabwe (ZIM)1001
13 South Korea (KOR)0303
14 China (CHN)0202
15 Czechoslovakia (TCH)*0101
 Denmark (DEN)0101
 Japan (JPN)0101
18 Soviet Union (URS)*0022
 United States (USA)0022
20 United Team of Germany (EUA)*0011
Totals (20 entries)373738112
Close
* = Defunct Team

Olympic records

Thumb
India against Great Britain in the final of the 1948 Olympics

Men

Women

See also

Notes

  1. There was no bronze medal match for the 1908 Games in London.
  2. The 1920 tournament was played in a round-robin format, so there were no gold medal or bronze medal matches.
  3. Three teams participated in the 1932 tournament, so they played a round-robin format.
  4. The United Team of Germany was the combined team from West Germany and East Germany that competed together at the Olympic Games from 1956 to 1964. Then each country sent independent teams from 1968 to 1988.
  5. Includes three gold medals as British India
  6. Includes results representing the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964 and West Germany from 1968 to 1988
  7. Round-robin format play in 1980 for women's tournament
  8. Round Robin format use in 1984 women's tournament
  9. The final standings show both the United States and Australia were tied in points and had same margin in goal difference (both having scored 9 goals and conceded 7 goals), therefore a penalty stroke competition was played to decide the bronze medal winner, with the United States winning.
  10. Includes representing West Germany from 1984 to 1988

References

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