Hockey, Women

Australia continued their dominance of the women’s game into the year 2000, when they surprisingly failed to make the final of the Champions Trophy, months before the Olympics. This did little to dampen the expectations by the home crowd. The competition format was overhauled, because ten countries were allowed to compete. After the preliminary round, six teams advanced to a final pool, after which the placement matches were played. Australia won Group A with three wins and a draw against Spain, with New Zealand taking the other pool by surprise. Behind New Zealand, China also finished ahead of hockey powers Netherlands and Germany. However, both nations failed to follow up in the next round, and missed qualification for the medal games. The Dutch did make the bronze medal match, despite a humiliating 5-0 loss to Australia, and took a second consecutive third place against Spain. Argentina, a rising power in hockey, made the Olympic final for the first time. The Australians didn’t give them a chance, building a 3-0 lead. Vanina Oneto got in a consolation goal after 45 minutes to determine the final score. Australia’s third hockey gold also meant the third gold for Rechelle Hawkes, who became the first Australian woman to win gold medals in three separate Olympics since swimmer Dawn Fraser (1956-1964).