Olympic London 2012 Hockey – Sixth Google Doodle (1 Aug)

Today (August 01, 2012, Wednesday) Google is featuring “Hockey” by showing the Doodle “London 2012 Hockey”. This is the Sixth Doodle for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Hockey, which is derived from a French word ‘hocquet’, meaning ‘shepherd’s crook’ involves momentum, endurance and powerful hand-eye coordination. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, hockey events will take place at the new Riverbank Arena in Olympic Park from Sunday 29 July to Saturday 11 August 2012. There will be two medal events and 384 athletes will participate (192 men, 192 women; 12 teams in each event). The hockey matches will be played on water-based synthetic-turf pitches (instead of grass), which allow the ball to roll more feely and quickly. Hockey came into picture in Olympics at the London 1908 Games and the first women’s Olympic Hockey Game was played in Moscow 1980 Games. Hockey is played on a 100 x 60 yard outdoor pitch. India’s Dhyan Chand is a much acclaimed hockey player who had a captivating control in handling the hockey stick. Dhyan Chand won three straight Olympic titles for India before the war and scored 33 goals in the process!

Field of play

The hockey pitches are 91.4m long and 55m wide. The goals at each end are 3.66m wide and 2.14m high. Each goal is surrounded by a D-shaped shooting circle. The penalty spot at either end is 6.4m from the goal. Until the 1970s, hockey was always played on grass. However, top-level matches, including those at London 2012, now take place on water-based synthetic-turf pitches, which allow the ball to roll more smoothly and quickly. For the first time ever at the Olympic Games, the London 2012 hockey pitch is blue, rather than green.

History of Hockey at the Olympic Games

Men’s Hockey made its debut at the London 1908 Games. The first women’s Olympic Hockey competition was held at the Moscow 1980 Games. Find out more about Hockey at the Olympic Games on the International Olympic Committee website.

The basics

Players use hook-shaped sticks to advance a hard ball towards their opponents’ goal. Matches are played over two halves of 35 minutes each. The team is made up of attackers, midfielders and defenders. Each team also has a goalkeeper. Substitutions can be made at virtually any time, and any number of times. To take a shot on goal, players must be inside their opponents’ shooting circle.

Competition format

At London 2012, both the men’s and women’s Hockey competitions begin with a preliminary phase: the 12 teams in each competition are divided into two pools of six and each team plays every other in their pool. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals, the winners of which go head-to-head for the gold. The other teams in the two groups play each other to determine final placings. In the preliminary phase, teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. In the knockout matches, ties are resolved by extra time (two 7½-minute periods), with a golden goal – the first goal scored – winning the match. If still tied after this time, the match is decided by a shoot-out competition of five attempts per team. If the scores are still tied, the match is decided by sudden death shoot-out. For a complete set of rules, please refer to the website of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the governing body for the sport.

Schedule of Hockey Events in London Olympics 2012