Scoring, format and more for Paris 2024 – NBC New York

The best hockey players in the world go to France.

The sport is older than the modern Olympic Games, but has not become part of the Olympic Games Olympic program until 1908 with the men's competition.

The women's competition has paid off Olympic debut in 1980and the sport has since seen greater gender balance. Out of 30 million players worldwideapproximately 51% are female and 49% are male.

How does Olympic hockey work and which countries are the best at the sport? Here's everything you need to know ahead of the men's and women's competitions at the 2024 Paris Olympics:

How big is an Olympic hockey field?

Hockey is played on a field 100 meters long and 60 meters wide.

Three lines run the width of the field: one in midfield and one 25 yards from each end line. There is also a semicircle extending 16 yards from each goal, marking the area where goals can be scored.

How big is an Olympic hockey goal?

A hockey goal is 3 meters wide, 2 meters high and 1.20 meters deep.

How big is a hockey ball?

Field hockey balls are dimpled and made of sturdy plastic. They weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 grams, have a circumference of about nine centimeters and can reach speeds of up to 160 km/h.

Why are hockey sticks bent?

Field hockey sticks have a J-shape. The curved head is rounded on the right side and flat on the left side, allowing players to hit the ball with only the flat side of the stick.

There are no left-handed hockey sticks.

How many people are on an Olympic hockey team?

The rosters contain 16 players. Eleven players, including the goalkeeper, are on the field for each team.

Olympic hockey format

There will be two hockey events at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris: a men's tournament and a women's tournament.

Each competition consists of 12 teams, divided into two groups. The group stage consists of round-robin play and the top four teams in each group advance to the quarter-finals. In pool group play, a win is worth three points in the rankings, a draw is worth one point and a loss is worth zero points.

After the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the two winners of the semi-finals will compete in the gold medal match, while the two losers of the semi-finals will compete for bronze.

Olympic hockey score

Each hockey goal is worth one point and the team with the most points wins.

The matches are played in four quarters of 15 minutes. There is 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 four quarters, the match ends in a draw and each team receives one point in the rankings. If an elimination or medal match is tied after four quarters, the teams compete in a shootout to determine a winner.

Five players from each team alternate penalty strokes during the shootout. If the shootout is tied after those five players from each team have left, the shootout moves to a sudden death format where the first team to score more goals after an equal number of shots wins.

Olympic Field Hockey Medal Table

India is the most decorated country in the history of Olympic hockey with a total of twelve medals and eight gold medals. Australia has the next most medals with 10 (one gold, four silver and five bronze), while Great Britain, Pakistan and Germany are in second place with three each.

Belgium won gold for the first time in the men's tournament 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyowhile the Netherlands won the women's gold for the third time in four Olympic Games.

Has the US ever won an Olympic medal in hockey?

Team USA has two hockey medals in its Olympic history.

The American men won bronze in 1932, when they finished third in that year's three-team event. The U.S. women won their only medal in 1984 by beating Australia in the bronze medal match.

The U.S. women qualified for the 2024 Olympics, while the men have not qualified for an Olympic Games outside the U.S. since 1956.

Hockey teams from the Olympic Games in Paris

Here are the teams and groups for the men's and women's hockey competitions at the Paris Olympics:

Men

group A

• The Netherlands
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Spain
• France
• South Africa

Group B

• Belgium
• India
• Australia
• Argentina
• New Zealand
• Ireland

Women

group A

• The Netherlands
• Belgium
• Germany
• Japan
• China
• France

Group B

• Australia
• Argentina
• Great Britain
• Spain
• United States
• South Africa

Paris Olympic Games hockey schedule

Hockey will take place from July 27 to August 9 during the Olympic Games in Paris. Medal matches on the men's side will be played on August 8 and the women's medal matches will be played on August 9.

Hockey venue for the Olympic Games in Paris

Hockey matches for the Paris Olympic Games are played at the Yves du Manoir stadium in Colombes. It is the only location at these Games that was also used the last time Paris hosted was in 1924.