A Uni Watch look at the 2024 Olympic Field Hockey

[Editor’s Note: As part of Uni Watch’s continuing Olympic uniform reviews, today we have an entry from our own Jamie Rathjen, who’ll be doing a deep dive into a sport that doesn’t receive much coverage here: Field Hockey. Enjoy! — PH]

A Uni Watch look at the 2024 Olympic Field Hockey
by Jamie Rathjen

A total of 15 countries are represented in the two 12-team Olympic hockey tournaments. As with other team sports, they are organized into two groups of six, with the top four in each group advancing to the quarterfinals.

This piece will be different from the last time I wrote it, because I don’t need to explain why the U.S. women’s team failed to qualify. They reached Paris by delivering four truly incredible performances at a qualifying tournament in January in Ranchi, India. The hosts, New Zealand and Italy, were defeated without conceding a goal in the group stage, then a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against Japan secured a 2-1 victory in the qualifying semifinal before the U.S. was completely shut out in a 2-0 victory for Germany in the final. (Japan became the third team to qualify from this tournament, beating India in the third-place match.)

I thought the US was capable of finishing fourth in their group, so the results were a little disappointing with only a draw against Spain followed by a win on the final day against South Africa, with both teams already eliminated. The US finished with four points, fifth in the group and ninth overall, and I was glad to see them back. As you may have seen from other Uni Watch Olympic pieces, those of us who are fans of lesser-followed sports get excited when they’re in the spotlight.

The tournaments took place at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir, normally used by the Racing Club de France men's football team and the former home of the much more prominent Racing 92 (formerly Racing Club de France) men's rugby team. It is one of the few remaining venues from the 1924 Summer Games, where it was the main stadium.

The men's tournament saw what was claimed to be the first competition – maybe at Olympic level, maybe at international level, I'm not sure – with male and female referees working together.

The Netherlands reached both finals, beating Germany yesterday for their first men's gold since Sydney, and playing China in the women's today. Let's see what they and their competitors wore.

Argentina (M, F)

Argentina had the familiar white and sky blue striped shirts, except they wore sky blue shorts and socks for the women's team or white shorts and socks for the men's team, despite often wearing white shorts and socks. black below the waist. The women's second jersey has a blue-black gradient, but not as heavy as some other teams. The men's team seems to have reversed the design, so the top part is black.

Australia (M, F)

I'm a big fan of Australian teams using indigenous art in their uniforms, and that's what the entire Olympic program is doing this time around. (The hockey teams also have their own Aboriginal flag colored design (outside of the Olympics.) The artwork is not as prominent as in other sports, as it is only seen on the sides of the shirts. The second choice design was reverse mono green or green/yellow/green.

Belgium (M, F)

The thing here is those sweeping lines on the bottom of the front, which are black on red or red-black on white. As far as I can tell, everyone in the entire Belgian delegation is wearing them on their uniforms, polo shirts or whatever. The number font is also a bit stencil-y. The men's team were the defending gold medalists, but were defeated in the quarterfinals by Spain.

China (West)

Relatively surprising women’s finalists after finishing fourth in their group, China have reversed red-and-yellow and yellow-and-red versions of the same design. The only additions are accents on the sides and in a rough apron shape on the front, like the Capitals.

France (M, F)

The hosts are not a powerhouse in the sport, unlike Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands to the east-northeast. Their automatic qualification depended on both teams being ranked in the world’s top 25, which they were. The two scored one point between them, a draw with Spain in the men’s event.

The blue shirts are based on the rest of the Olympic team, with a blue and white gradient that doesn’t extend to the sides, which looks really odd. It’s mostly solid underneath. The second white shirt and shorts aren’t much more conventional, with blue accents on the right and red on the left, matching the flag when viewed from the front, but turned around from the back.

Germany (M, F)

Germany always look like a no-nonsense version of their football colleagues: white and black with not much else to look at other than advertising, of which they have none here. There are some minor flag accents. They kept their normal country coat of arms, which during the Olympics — since I've seen a lot of it on German-language TV — seems to be an alternative to the German team logo. They even have their normal number and NOB font, after essentially removing their advertising. As you can see in both pictures, they are also one of the teams that regularly wear rainbow captain's armbands or sock bands (the latter often happens with sleeveless shirts).

Great Britain (M, W)

Unlike other sports, the British national teams exist alongside those of England, Scotland and Wales and qualify in their own right. I find the font on these shirtsalthough it seems like all the Adidas teams at these tournaments got the same one, at least for the country name on the front. But both teams have strange not-quite-side stripes on both shirts, which are slightly more visible on the men's shirts. The women's team wore a mono-red combination instead red/blue/blue.

India (M)

India normally wears a fake Devanagari “India” script. Here it’s just a block font. They’ve used contrasting raglan sleeves in blue-on-white and white-on-blue designs that aren’t exactly opposites and are definitely a new look for me. The white second jersey also has a bit of a pattern to it with its various blue swirling lines, and the orange socks it was worn with are a really good touch to add a pop of color.

Ireland (M)

It's pretty simple green/white/green and white/green/white here, with an extra green yoke on the white shirt. It looks like the green shorts are darker than the green on the white shirt, almost as if they actually belong to the green shirt, which they do match. But the accents on the sides do use the lighter shade.

Japan (US)

Japan has always been fond of cherry blossoms, as that is their nickname. The first choice is mono-pink and the second choice is white/blue/blue, which is the shirt that actually features pink cherry blossoms. But while the shirts and shorts both have their own patterns — a particularly wild pattern that I can’t quite describe on the blue shorts — the socks do not, which looks a bit odd.

Netherlands (M, F)

The Dutch have recently released new kits and they are wearing them here with the differences of a “Netherlands” text on the front and the Olympic team emblem. I am not sure if these kits have been worn before for this tournament. The font is much better than what Adidas has come up with for football and the shade of orange used is perfect. The second kit is white/sky blue/white and only has orange accents.

New Zealand (M)

A lot of New Zealand teams go mono white and mono black, and that's what we get here, complete with an Arial-esque number font. The men's team usually goes sleeveless, but not this time around as they have a different outfitter in New Balance.

South Africa (M, F)

SA stepped way back from the protea-based design used in Tokyo, and instead went the same route as many other teams. Solid colours, country name on the front, nothing else to see. I do like the green/green/gold combination because (a) it’s proven good as they’re Uni Watch colours and (b) it’s not mono. This is a sport where I really like dark/dark/light combinations because it makes the socks pop.

Spain (M, F)

The two red and white shirts both feature a rather unusual flag-coloured stripe that runs straight down the centre of the front. The men's team adds polo collarsThe emblem of the Spanish Olympic Games even appears in the middle of the shirts, and not as usual at the top left.

United States (W)

The US wore their regular uniforms — made by Osaka, so the swoosh isn't ubiquitous — with a red-to-blue gradient and the “USA” Olympic text logo on the front. A flag replaces the regular crest. Most blue is second choicebut here the third white option appeared in this set for I think the first time for the senior women's team in the last group match against South Africa. It is not normally used much, except as a shirt for goalkeepers.