Field hockey at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Field hockey at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held over a fourteen day period beginning on August 10, and culminating with the medal finals on August 22 and August 23.Cite web|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/hockey/index.shtml|title=Hockey - Beijing Olympics 2008|publisher=en.beijing2008.cn|accessdate=2008-08-21] All games were played at the hockey field constructed on the Olympic Green.

Competition format

Twelve teams competed in both the men's and women's Olympic hockey tournaments with the competition consisting of two rounds. [http://www.fihockey.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,1181-190318-207541-137557-0-file,00.pdf XXIXth Olympic Games Tournament Regulations - Men's and Women's Hockey Competitions] ] In the first round, teams were divided into two pools of six teams, and play followed round robin format with each of the teams playing all other teams in the pool once. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. At the end of the pool matches, teams were ranked in their pool according to the following criteria in order:
* Total points accumulated
* Number of matches won
* Goal difference
* Goals for
* The result of the match played between the teams in question

Following the completion of the pool games, teams placing first and second in each pool advanced to a single elimination round consisting of two semifinal games, and the bronze and gold medal games. Remaining teams competed in classification matches to determine their ranking in the tournament. During these matches, extra time of 7½ minutes per half was played if teams were tied at the end of regulation time. During extra time, play followed golden goal rules with the first team to score declared the winner. If no goals were scored during extra time, a penalty stroke competition took place.

Competition schedule

The competition schedule was released on May 29 2008 by the FIH and BOCOG.Cite web|url=http://www.fihockey.org/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,1181-18543-19728-28355-285675-9199-5039-layout169-19693-news-item,00.html|title=Olympic Hockey Tournament Match Schedule released|publisher=fihockey.org|accessdate=2008-08-21] [http://209.20.80.25/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,,1181-1-1-136550-0-file,00.pdf Match schedule] ]

Women's tournament

Participating nations

The pools were released on 5 May 2008 and were based on the world rankings. [ [http://worldhockey.org/vsite/vcontent/content/transnews/0,10869,1181-18543-19728-28355-285061-9199-5039-layout169-19693-news-item,00.html FIH releases pools for Women’s Olympic Hockey Tournament] ] ;Pool A
*fhw|AUS
*fhw|CHN
*fhw|KOR
*fhw|NED
*fhw|RSA
*fhw|ESP;Pool B
*fhw|ARG
*fhw|GER
*fhw|GBR
*fhw|JPN
*fhw|NZL
*fhw|USA

Medalists

References

External links

* [http://www.worldhockey.org/olympics/ Official FIH website]