Dates 10–23 August | ||
Venue Olympic Green Hockey Field | ||
Field hockey at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held over a fourteen-day period beginning on 10 August, and culminating with the medal finals on 22 and 23 August. All games were played at the hockey field constructed on the Olympic Green.
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Competition format
Twelve teams competed in both the men's and women's Olympic hockey tournaments with the competition consisting of two rounds. 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:
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 29 May 2008 by the FIH and BOCOG.
Participating nations
The pools were released on 18 April 2008 and were based on the world rankings.
Participating nations
The pools were released on 5 May 2008 and were based on the world rankings.