12 Aug, 2024 Hockey at Paris 2024 came to a conclusion on 9 August, with a historic double gold for Netherlands, as the men’s and women’s teams of a nation won the hockey gold in the same edition of an Olympics for the very first time! Germany men and China women added a silver medal to their trophy cabinets, while India men and Argentina women made it back-to-back medal finishes, winning the bronze medals. The competition for medals was wide open, and there were plenty of surprises and upsets as the jostling for medal finishes shook up the world rankings. Join us as we take a look at the updated rankings, following the conclusion of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. In the men’s world rankings, Olympic champions Netherlands (3168) stand at the top of the rankings. Netherlands came into the games in the top spot, but dropped to third in the pool stage following a draw against Great Britain and a loss to Germany, but four consecutive wins to finish with the title, sees them climb back into the first place. Germany (3035) once again showed their big tournament prowess, as they came into the event ranked fifth in the world, but registered big wins over the likes of Netherlands, Great Britain, Argentina and India to climb into second place in the world rankings, on the way to the silver medal. England* (2973), Belgium (2959) and India (2849) complete the top-5 places. Belgium in particular will be disappointed with their quarter final exit, coming in as defending champions. The Red Lions had a near perfect pool stage with 4 wins and a draw that had catapulted them to the top of the world rankings, but a loss to Spain in the quarterfinal saw them drop down to fourth. Germany’s ascent also sees England drop down one spot from their pre-Olympics ranking of second place, to third, while India have climbed one spot up bridging the gap to the top-4, following a second consecutive bronze medal finish at the Olympics. Australia (2714), Argentina (2643) and Spain (2470) find themselves in the sixth, seventh and eighth positions respectively. Australia began the Olympics ranked fourth in the world, and climbed into the top-3 after the first win over Argentina, but a disappointing campaign where they endured losses to Belgium, India and got knocked out by Netherlands in the quarterfinals, sees them drop down to sixth, less than 100 points clear of Argentina in seventh. Spain fell just short of the bronze medal and while their ranking remains unchanged, the gap to seventh place is less than half of what it was before Paris 2024. Ireland (2078), France (2016), South Africa (1982) and New Zealand (1958) take up the ninth to twelfth spots in the world rankings with all four teams competing at the Olympics, but failing to make the quarterfinals. Ireland’s victory over New Zealand in their final pool stage game, lifted them two spots into ninth place at the expense of France who ended their pool stage of the games with just one point following a draw against Spain. South Africa moved up one place thanks to their draw against Great Britain and win over France, while New Zealand’s failure to collect any points at the Olympics sees them drop two spots down from tenth. In the women’s world rankings, Netherlands (3641) remain infallible, adding a fourth Olympic gold medal from the last five editions of the Games! While China gave them a big scare in the gold medal match, Netherlands prevailed in the end, completing a perfect campaign with 8 wins in 8 matches. Argentina (3059) continue to remain in a distant second place, following their bronze medal performance at Paris 2024. Belgium (2852) climbed one place to third in the world after narrowly missing out on their first ever Olympic medal, with back-to-back shoot-out losses to China in the semi-final, and Argentina in the bronze medal match, but it was still an impressive campaign from the Red Panthers in just their second ever Olympic appearance! Germany (2739) exited in the quarterfinals at Paris 2024, a result which saw them drop down one spot, into fourth. Australia (2720) continue to remain in fifth place and similar to Germany, would be disappointed in their quarterfinal exit, following a stellar pool phase where they finished top of their pool with 4 wins and a draw. China’s (2567) incredible run in Paris 2024, which saw them come within a whisker of claiming the gold medal, has resulted in a two-place climb in the world rankings table as they now sit in the sixth spot, ahead of England* (2419) and Spain (2322) in seventh and eighth respectively. India (2087) and New Zealand (2024), who missed out on Olympic qualification, round out the top-10 world rankings. Among the teams that competed at the Olympics outside of top-10, are Japan (2010) in eleventh place, narrowly trailing New Zealand. United States (1898) were extremely competitive throughout the pool stage of the Olympics and registered points through a draw against Spain and a win over South Africa, and find themselves in thirteenth place in the world rankings. South Africa (1403) and France (1371) both ended Paris 2024 without scoring any points and are placed twentieth and twenty second in the world respectively. Both teams have plenty of positives to take away from the Olympics though, with this being the first appearance for France at an Olympics, while South Africa, given their very young squad, were competitive, not losing by more than one goal in any of their matches except one, which came in the form of a 4-2 loss to Argentina, where South Africa were leading 2-1 until the final ten minutes! *England competed as a part of Great Britain in the Olympic Games Paris 2024. To see the complete FIH World Rankings, please click here. The rankings calculations model that FIH introduced on 1st January 2020 moved away from the previous tournament-based rankings system to a dynamic,

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09 Aug, 2024 Paris, France – Day 14: The Netherlands women are the Olympic champions for a record extending fifth time thanks to a shoot-out win over China, a team that held the lead for the vast majority of an extraordinary gold medal match at the Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium. The result means that the Netherlands have become the first nation in history to secure both the men’s and women’s Olympic gold medals at the same Games. Despite the reigning Olympic, World, European and FIH Hockey Pro League champions starting as heavy favourites, China stunned their illustrious opponents and the vast swathes of Orange clad fans when Chen Yi touched home the opening goal just six minutes into the contest. Remarkably, it was a lead that the continental champions of Asia – who were beaten 3-0 by the Netherlands in the pool phase – held until the 51st minute when tournament top scorer Yibbi Jansen finally made the breakthrough, firing home her ninth penalty corner of the competition to send a ferociously contested match into a shoot-out. The one-on-ones were dominated by the Dutch, with Pien Sanders, Maria Verschoor and Marijn Veen all scoring while goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal produced three astonishing saves to seal the gold medal in the most dramatic of circumstances. The Netherlands have now won four of the last five Olympic gold medals on offer, an astonishing record from one of the most dominant sporting teams the world has ever seen. It was a special moment for Netherlands head coach Paul Van Ass, who guided the team to glory just one day after his son, Seve, won gold as a player with the men’s team. Speaking after the match, Van Ass said: “It was a very close game. Well, we attacked, and they defended. But because they got a goal so early, they had the time to defend. And they defended very well. And we couldn’t convert a lot of penalty corners. If you (get) five, six penalty corners, and you (score) one or two, then the game is open, and they have to come, but we couldn’t do that. And that was very close. But the girls played good hockey.” For Yibbi Jansen, she has followed in the footsteps of her father by becoming a hockey Olympic gold medallist, with Ronald Jansen – who was watching in the stands – playing in goal for the Netherlands men’s teams that became champions at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. While the Netherlands will be deservedly praised for their astonishing achievement, the contribution made by China to this occasion was colossal. The continental champions of Asia went toe-to-toe with their opponents throughout, fully deserving their regular time draw against the mighty Dutch in a gripping match. Thanks to the tactical brilliance of Alyson Annan – an all-time great player who guided the Netherlands women to the Olympic title at Tokyo 2020 – China are once again a global force, with their performance in Paris matching the silver medal they won at Beijing 2008, their home Olympic Games. They have earned the respect of the world, a fact proven by the incredible reception they received from masses of Dutch supporting fans at Yves-du-Manoir. “Almost, huh? We were really close”, said Annan shortly after the match. “We fought hard. Getting to a shoot-out is pretty good. Look, six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, we wouldn’t have thought we’d be here. This is just amazing. “I wasn’t surprised (it was so close)”, continued Annan. “I thought we were capable of this. I thought that we could win. We did everything we could. They were just better in the shoot-out today.” Earlier in the day, Argentina women won the bronze medal by overcoming Belgium in a shoot-out after a pulsating match finished 2-2. For the second time in this competition, Argentina goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino produced a sparking performance in the one-on-ones, being beaten just once in four Belgian attempts with Lara Casas, teenager Zoe Diaz de Armas and Sofia Cairo scoring the vital goals. The result gave Las Leonas their sixth Olympic medal in their last seven appearances, having claimed silver at Sydney 2000, London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 as well as additional bronze medals at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. It was a cruel end to an exceptional tournament for Belgium, who miss out on a medal by finishing fourth. “I am really happy because I think this team deserves everything”, said Argentina’s Agustina Albertarrio after the match. “We played eight games and we lost only once, against the best team, which is the Netherlands. I am really happy because this team gives everything, but I also want to congratulate Belgium because they have an amazing team. They have a lot of fight, it was really hard (playing against them). Now we want to celebrate, enjoy this moment with our families and the fans, who are amazing.” Further information and statistics about the match can be found here.   Notable figures attending the Olympic hockey on the final day of action at Yves-du-Manoir were Princess Elisabeth of Belgium and Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof.   The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 took place from Saturday 27 July to Friday 9 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions featured 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at Paris 2024, visit Olympics.Hockey. Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Hockey 9 August 2024 – Day 14 Women’s medal matches – Friday 9 August 2024 (all times CEST) 14:00 – Bronze: Argentina 2-2 Belgium (3-1 after shoot-out) 20:00 – Gold: Netherlands 1-1 China (3-1 after shoot-out) Final Standings Women Gold: The Netherlands Silver: China Bronze: Argentina 4: Belgium 5: Australia 6: Germany 7: Spain 8: Great Britain 9: USA 10: Japan 11: South Africa 12: France Men Gold: The Netherlands Silver: Germany Bronze: India 4: Spain 5: Belgium 6: Australia 7: Great Britain 8: Argentina 9: South Africa 10: Ireland 11: France 12: New Zealand Pool standings overviews Women: click here.  Men: click here. Source: FIH.hockey