HOW DOES IT WORK?
The name here is a pretty good, concise description of the sport. If not: it鈥檚 11v11. The object of the sport is to hit a plastic ball into a goal using a stick. Except, you can only use one side of the stick, you can only score inside a marked off scoring zone shaped like a 鈥淒,鈥 and you can鈥檛 raise your stick above waist level. So, basically, everyone might as well be holding a giant spoon. The goalies wear full-body protection, while the field players only wear shin-pads. The 12 teams are divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, and then it鈥檚 single-elimination. The medal dates are August 10 (women) and 11 (men).
HISTORY
Men鈥檚 field hockey has been in the Olympics since 1908, while women鈥檚 field hockey wasn鈥檛 an Olympic sport until 1980. The Dutch have the most medals (16) of all time, including four golds. India hasn鈥檛 won a medal since 1980, but their eight golds are the most in history. Australia is tied with the Netherlands in golds and with India in total medals (11). The Australian women have won three of the eight golds ever awarded.
WHO IS THE BEST?
On the men鈥檚 side, Australia is the defending World Cup champion, and they鈥檙e ranked first in the world. The 33-year-old Australian Jamie Dwyer has won World Player of the Year in five of the last eight years and each of the last three. Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Spain should all challenge for medals, too. For the women, Argentina is the world number two and defending World Cup champ. They鈥檙e led by 34-year-old Luciana Aymar, the seven-time-defending World Player of the Year. She鈥檚 basically the [insert stupid cross-sport, cross-sex comparison] of field hockey. Yet, she鈥檚 never won a gold medal. The Dutch women currently hold the top spot in the world rankings, while Great Britain and Germany should also be in medal contention.
DOES THE U.S. HAVE ANY CHANCE?
Chance? MORE LIKE CHUMPS. Well, no. Sorry about that. But seriously, the U.S. men have as good of a chance at winning a medal as a cardboard box full of hamsters聽since they dropped out of Olympic qualifying rounds and won鈥檛 be competing. The U.S. women won the 2011 Pan-Am games by upsetting Argentina in the final, and they鈥檙e considerably better than the men, which makes sense because women鈥檚 field hockey is actually an American collegiate sport. They鈥檙e ranked 10th in the world and have an outside-outside (I get paid extra every time I use that word) shot at a medal.
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