Hockey will return to the Olympic schedule in Paris 2024, with 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams competing for gold at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. Find out all you need to know about the number of athletes, teams to keep an eye on, and the qualification process down below.
Hockey made its Olympic debut in 1908, at the London Games. With the exception of the 1912 and 1924 Games, the men’s sport has been a feature of the Olympic program ever since, while the women’s category was added to the schedule in 1980 in Moscow, which Zimbabwe won.
Tokyo 2022 – A spirited men’s Belgium team climbed to the top step of the podium for the first time in their history in Tokyo 2020, while the Netherlands claimed their third triumph in four Olympics with a 3-1 win over Argentina in the women’s event.
There will be one tournament for men and one for women in Paris 2024, with all of the action taking place at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. Find out everything you need to know about the qualifying road down below.
How many athletes will compete in hockey at Paris 2024?
In both the men’s and women’s tournaments, 12 teams will compete for gold in Paris 2024, with a total of 384 athletes (192 women and 192 men) competing.
France, as hosts, will obtain one quota for their men’s team and one for their women’s team, with 16 athletes per squad, if they each attain a position of 25 or higher in the FIH World Rankings following the conclusion of the Tokyo 2020 Games. All other NOCs will be eligible to field a single team of 16 athletes for each of the men’s and women’s contests.
What is the hockey qualification pathway for Paris 2024?
The following competitions will provide a road to the Games for the 24 teams (384 athletes) attempting to qualify for Paris 2024. The winners of each of the five continental championships (one for each gender) will earn their NOC one quota place:
- The African Hockey Journey to Paris 2023
- 2023 Pan American Games
- 2023 Asian Games
- 2023 EuroHockey Championship
- 2023 Oceania Cup
If France wins the EuroHockey Championships in 2023, its quota spot will be assigned to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments listed below:
In 2024, four FIH Olympic Qualification Tournaments (two per gender) with eight teams each (16 total) will be conducted. Each of these competitions’ top three teams will receive a single quota slot for their NOC (six in total). If France wins the EuroHockey Championship in 2023, the number will climb to seven, with the last quota spot going to the highest-ranked of the two teams that finished fourth in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.
The number of invites to the qualification tournaments will be determined by the number of nations from each continent that are World Ranked in the top 22 Olympic eligible nations on January 31, 2023.
The continents of the six previously qualified nations will be eliminated from these 22 quotas, leaving 16 continental quotas to be filled by the top performing nations in each continental championship who have not already qualified for Paris 2024.