The Men Play For Medals

It seems like summer is speeding past us once again as we're into the final days of the 2024 Paris Olympiad despite it feeling like it just started. In saying that, the field hockey events for both the men and women drew to a close yesterday and today, and that meant that medals were being handed out to three nations in each tournament. Of course, four nations were competing on both sides when it came to winning medals, so two teams would go home empty-handed despite making it to the final day of the event. Who stood atop the podiums? Let's find out as the 2024 Paris Olympic field hockey events ended today!

MEN'S BRONZE MEDAL GAME

INDIA vs. SPAIN: India entered the game as the reigning bronze medalists from Tokyo, and they were looking to lock down another medal for their country. Spain, however, was looking to claim a spot on the podium for the first time since 2012. Nothing would come easy for these two medal-hopeful nations, but a bronze medal hung in the balanace for the winner as this game got underway.

The opening quarter saw both sides moving the ball as best as they could while the defence held. We'd see our first score in the second quarter when Spain scored in the 18th minute as Marc Miralles put a penalty shot past Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh after Manpreet Singh obstructed fellow midfielder Gerard Clapes in the circle.

With Spain leading 1-0, the pressure was on India to mount some offence while maintaining their solid defensive structure. Both sides would continue to seek chances, and India would finally break through moments before halftime when Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty corner in the 30th minute past Spanish netminder Luis Calzado to send this game into the break tied at 1-1!.

India moved quickly in the third quarter to gain a lead. Harmanpreet Singh converted another penalty corner in the 33rd minute with his tenth goal of these Olympics, putting India up 2-1. With Spain needing a goal, the action on the pitch intensified with both sides playing more physical. There were collisions, there were blocked shots, and there were stoppages as players shook off the physicality, but India still lead 2-1 after three quarters of play.

India continued to thrwart the Spanish attack in the final quarter. Spain opted to pull Calzado in the 56th minute to press for the equalizer, and their attack saw them earn a handful of penalty corners as the clocked ticked towards the final horn. Despite Spain's repeated attempts, Sreejech stood tall in India's net to preserve the 2-1 victory at the final horn! India is the bronze medalist while Spain claims fourth-place at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games!

MEN'S GOLD MEDAL GAME

NETHERLANDS vs. GERMANY: If there was a game that may define the sport, the top-two teams in men's field hockey met for the gold medal in Colombes, France on Thursday. The Germans had already defeated the Dutch 1-0 in pool play back on July 31 off a Niklas Wellen goal at the three-minute mark, so they were looking to make it two wins against Netherlands in France. The Netherlands were hunting for their first gold medal since 2000 with a win over the Germans while Germany was looking to stand atop the podium for the first time since 2012. If you tuned into this game, you were treated to a spectacular match that featured a little bit of everything!

A first quarter saw neither side find the back of the net, but there were chances as both sides moved the ball efficiently while their defences took shooting chances away. One quarter of 0-0 hockey quickly turned into two quarters as neither side could beat the other's goalkeeper. Despite the Netherlands having more chances inside the circle, we'd go to the break with the 0-0 draw intact.

The third quarter started like the previous two, but we'd get a little fun at the 3:28 mark when an unexpected sprinkler interruption broke out along the sidelines, but it was quickly controlled after a couple of minutes of spray. It should be noted that the games were played on the Poligras Paris GT zero field hockey turf system which was "made from 80% biobased material, primarily sugarcane". Due to the design, the field was hardly affected by the water break, and play resumed after the sprinkler was under control.

Despite the break, neither side would find the goal in the third quarter, so we'd start the fourth quarter at 0-0 and needing a goal. We'd finally see one in the 46th minute when Koen Bijen chipped a ball through the air that pulled German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg out of the net, giving Thierry Brinkman enough room to deflect the ball into the unguarded net to put the Dutch up 1-0!

It was almost a 2-0 lead moments later, but German defender Gonzalo Peillat made a crucial save to keep it a one-goal game. That lead lasted less than four minutes, though, as Germany responded off a penalty corner. Thies Prinz won a battle and pushed the ball across the line off the penalty corner in the 50th minute, and Germany was back in this game with the 1-1 equalizer. The two teams played the final ten minutes with far more urgency as both wanted the gold medal. We nearly had a Dutch celebration in the final minute, but Jip Janssen's penalty corner shot missed wide left, allowing the time to expire as the horn sounded. With the game tied at 1-1, we needed a penalty shootout to determine a winner!

The first two shooters for either nation were denied on their penalty strokes, making this a best-of-three penalty shootout. Thierry Brinkman would score for the Dutch on their third stroke while Dutch goalkeeper Pirmin Blaak made a crucial stop on Thies Prinz. Thies Van Dam put the Netherlands up by a pair of goals, but Justus Weigand scored to keep the Germans' hopes alive.

With one shooter remaining, the Germans needed a stop as Duco Telgenkamp strode onto the pitch, and he broke in on his attempt, went to his left, and flicked the ball up past the lunging Danneberg into the net as the Dutch celebration poured onto the field with the 3-1 shootout victory! With the win, the Netherlands are your Olympic gold medalists while the Germans capture the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games!

Look, I don't think that any medals should be won in a team sport by individual goal-scoring talents, but that's how this one played out. Does it suck for Germany? Absolutely, but I'll take nothing away from them. They had an incredible Olympic tournament that was tarnished by losing the final game in the event. Does it make their efforts any less impressive? Not in my books.

With the medals awarded, the final standings in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic men's field hockey event are:

1. Netherlands - gold medalists
2. Germany - silver medalists
3. India - bronze medalists
4. Spain - fourth-place
5. Belgium - eliminated in quarterfinals
6. Australia - eliminated in quarterfinals
7. Great Britain - eliminated in quarterfinals
8. Argentina - eliminated in quarterfinals
9. South Africa - eliminated in pool play
10. Ireland - eliminated in pool play
11. France - eliminated in pool play
12. New Zealand - eliminated in pool play

Congratulations to all twelve teams who qualified to play in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games, and a big shoutout to bronze medal-winning India, silver medal-winning Germany, and especially to gold medal-winning Netherlands who won their first gold medal in 24 years and set up the possibility of having two field hockey gold medals won by the same country! That's something that's never happened before in the Olympic field hockey competition since the women's event began in 1980, so we could be treated to a little history with the women's results! We'll take a look at those tomorrow here on HBIC!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the pitch!