Sixteen years ago, China's women's hockey team achieved their greatest Olympic feat, securing the silver medal on home soil at the Beijing 2008 Games. While celebrated players like Ma Yibo and Fu Baorong have since retired, a new generation is emerging, ready to shine in the City of Light.
Under the guidance of Alyson Annan, a double Olympic gold medallist as a player with Australia and coach of the Netherlands women to World, European and Olympic titles, China have transformed into a formidable force. Their fifth-place finish in the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League marked their best performance yet in this elite competition, featuring victories against Germany, India, USA and Belgium.
Their first match at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, scheduled for Sunday 28 July, pits them against Belgium, a significant test for the team. China captain Ou Zixia, competing in her second Olympics after representing her country at Rio 2016, expressed confidence and excitement.
"I'm very happy and excited to compete in a stadium that has a big Olympic history," Zixia said on Saturday. "We are really looking forward to it. Of course, we want to get a good result, but to do that, we need to focus on every game. Our team will try our best to be as good as possible."
Regarding their ambitions for Paris 2024, Zixia declared: "The first thing we want to do is to qualify for the knockout stages. Once we are there, it is win or go home, but we are aiming for the top four. We are going to fight for every game. We are really looking forward to the first game. We want to show how China plays hockey to the whole world here on the Olympic stage."
The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place from 27 July to 9 August 2024. Both the men's and women's competitions involve 12 teams, divided into two groups of six before progressing to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For further information about the competition, visit Olympics.Hockey.