COLOMBES, France — Oranje is gold again in women’s field hockey after the Netherlands pulled off a first-of-its-kind Olympic sweep.
The Netherlands defended its title from Tokyo, rallying from an early deficit to beat China 2-1 in a shootout in the final at the Paris Olympics on Friday night.
The victory followed the Dutch men’s team taking gold a day earlier. The Netherlands became the first country to sweep the field hockey medals at the Games since the women’s tournament was added in 1980.
“We have both golds – that’s historic,” said Pien Sanders, who scored in the shootout nearly 24 hours after boyfriend Thijs van Dam won with the men’s team. “This means everything. I think the pressure is the always really high for the Dutch team and that we are here with gold, it’s so beautiful.”
Much like the men, the women did so surrounded by a sea of orange, with Dutch fans filling Yves-du-Manoir Stadium and making for a festive atmosphere. Also like the men, it did not happen easily.
The Netherlands fell behind 5:54 in when a defensive lapse in front allowed Chen Yi to redirect Dan Wen’s setup past goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal. After trailing for just six minutes all tournament until the final, the Dutch generated plenty of quality chances through three quarters, including Frederique Malta ringing one penalty corner shot off the left post and missing wide right on another.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking, actually,” Maria Verschoor said. “Till the end I was like, ‘Oh my God, is it going to happen?’ All the time were saying: ‘OK, it’s coming. It’s coming.’
Yibbi Jansen tied it with 9:11 left in regulation by scoring on a penalty corner, setting off cheering, flag-waving and jumping in the stands. Sanders, Verschoor and Marijn Veen scored in the shootout to spark what could be an all-night party for the Dutch players and their fans.
“We have all these celebrations,” Verschoor said. “I think we will have a lot of parties in the coming days.”
Jansen finished as the tournament’s leading goal scorer with nine but said: “If was not gold, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that counts is that we win.”
The second of back-to-back Olympic titles came with former coach Alyson Annan on the other side with China. Annan, an Australian native who guided the Netherlands to gold in Tokyo in 2021, abruptly stepped down in early 2022 after a Royal Dutch Hockey Association investigation into team culture under her watch following complaints from players.
Annan said China should be proud of her team’s performance, entering the Olympics as an underdog and coming 10 minutes away from the country’s first field hockey championship at the Games.
“We got Olympic silver, and we were this close to gold,” Annan said, adding she was not surprised by the run. “Six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, we wouldn’t have thought we’d be here.”
The Netherlands improved to 21-0 against China over the past decade, with 15 of the previous 20 wins coming by multiple goals.
“It was a very close game,” said coach Paul van Ass, whose son, Seve, won gold with the men’s team. “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.”
Argentina took home women’s field hockey bronze after beating Belgium in a penalty shootout. Argentina medaled for a second consecutive Games, taking silver in Tokyo for losing to the Netherlands in the final.
“It’s crazy,” Argentina goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino said. “We’re very happy. We came here to get medals, and we couldn’t go back empty-handed.”
The Netherlands was the only country to win two field hockey medals of any color in Paris. Germany took silver and India bronze on the men’s side.