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.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was founded in 1924 and governs the hockey events. Until the 1988 Olympics, the tournament was 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.
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]
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]
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]
Since the debut of the hockey programme in 1908, 45 teams have competed in at least one Olympic Games.
Since its debut at the 1980 Games, 23 teams have competed in at least one Olympic Games.
Source:[12]
