Great Britain Men and Women qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after a successful FIH Olympic Qualifiers where both teams cemented their place in this summer’s Olympics, but how did they do it?
GB Men travelled to Muscat, Oman for their Olympic qualifying group that saw them face Malaysia, Pakistan and China.
They started their campaign emphatically with a 6-1 win over Pakistan with five different goal scorers.
Their impressive vein of form continued ending the group stages with three wins from three after dispatching Malaysia 4-1 and China 6-0, GB totalled an impressive 16 goals as they topped the scoring charts.
Sam Ward extended his Olympic Qualifying tally to eight goals having scored twice in each of his first four matches in Oman, rounding off a fantastic week where he reached 100 GB caps.
His latest two strikes helped GB confirm their place at Paris 2024, their 11th-straight appearance at an Olympics, as they bested New Zealand 3-1 to reach the final.
Paul Revington’s side came unstuck in the final against Germany as they were narrowly beaten 1-0 but will travel back from Oman with many positives, ending as joint-top scorers and a place at this summer’s Olympics confirmed.
GB Women’s path to Paris was much more closely fought as they went all the way to a deciding match in Valencia, Spain.
They got off to the perfect start beating Canada 2-0 with goals from Tess Howard and Katie Robertson, but a tight 1-0 defeat to Spain meant they had to beat Malaysia to ensure they reached the semi-finals.
GB stepped up to the task and thumped Malaysia 8-1 with goals from Hannah French, Izzy Petter, Sarah Jones and doubles from Howard and Giselle Ansley.
Belgium denied GB a place in Paris, as they edged them 3-2 in the semi-final following a controversial on-field decision. The defeat set up a clash with Ireland for a place at the Olympics.
Goals from Sarah Jones and K. Robertson were enough to beat Ireland 2-1 to secure their spot, along with the men, at Paris 2024.
Robertson’s winning goal came on her 200th combined cap for GB and Scotland, whilst Petter reached 100 combined caps for GB and England.
Find out who GB men and women will play in their Olympics Pools in our news article.
