Hockey, Women

The world’s major hockey teams participated for the first time in the 1984 Olympics, including West Germany and the Netherlands, who had won all five previous World Championships between them. The top favourite were the Dutch, defending World Champions. They would eventually win the tournament by dropping only a single point. However, because of their draw with Canada, West Germany and Australia were still in contention for the gold during the last round of play. The Dutch 2-0 win over Australia not only meant the Hockeyroos lost sight of the gold medal, but eventually also the bronze. Three teams tied with 5 points (USA, Australia and Canada), with the home team and Australia having the exact same goal difference (9-7). Under current rules, the Australian win over the US (3-1) would have given third place to the Australians, but in 1984, the tie was resolved by a penalty shootout. This was conducted some 15 minutes after the final match. The Americans won it, 10-5.