Paris 2024 hockey: All results, as the Netherlands beat the People's Republic of China in shoot-out to win women's gold

The Netherlands claimed victory at the conclusion of a nail-biting gold medal match in women’s hockey, defeating the People's Republic of China in a penalty shoot-out to secure the gold medal at the Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium on Friday, 9 August.

It was the fifth time the Dutch women’s hockey team have won the Olympic title, successfully defending the gold medal they won three years ago at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, as well as combining with the men’s team to sweep the hockey gold medals at Paris 2024.

“I think we will have a lot of parties in the coming days,” said the Netherlands’ Maria Verschoor. “Then we go home, we go to see the King and Queen. I think we will have all these celebrations.”

While the Dutch team reigned supreme over the women’s hockey tournament, winning all eight of their matches without a single loss, they certainly looked vulnerable against the People’s Republic of China under the bright lights at Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium.

They entered the match as the favoured team for victory after beating China 3-0 in the group stage. China looked to flip the script, however, netting an early goal courtesy of Chen Yi.

The Dutch team found themselves in a largely unfamiliar position at Paris 2024, trailing their opponents with the clock ticking.

Frederique Matla attempted to convert the first penalty corner of the match into a goal for the Dutch team, but her shot hit the crossbar and rolled away from the Chinese goal.

Yibbi Jansen was next up to attempt a penalty corner for the Dutch, but she too failed at putting the ball in the net. This gave China the lead heading into the third quarter of the match, with the clock still ticking on the Netherlands’ gold medal opportunity.

Matla again took charge on the penalty corner, and again failed to convert for the Dutch. Try as they might, they couldn’t get the ball around the stone wall that was China’s goalie Ye Jiao.

China again retained their single-goal lead, needing to defend their goal for one final period.

It was Jansen who finally converted a penalty corner for the Dutch, tying the match with nine minutes left to play. Both teams frantically sought to score a goal, but neither could get the job done. It was time for a penalty shoot-out.

The Netherland’s showed their class in the penalty shoot-out, soundly defeating China 3-1 to take a much desired gold medal after a tense match.

“It was a very close game,” said Dutch coach Paul van Ass. “Well, we attacked and they defended. But because they got a goal so early, they had the time to defend - and they defended very well. And we couldn't convert a lot of penalty corners.”

Still, it was gold for the Dutch, and a well-earned silver medal for the People’s Republic of China.

“We were really close,” said China’s coach Alyson Regina Annan. “We fought hard. Getting to a shoot-out is pretty good. They were better in the shoot-out today.

“Look, six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, we wouldn’t have thought we’d be here. This is just amazing.”

They celebrated their achievement along with the Netherlands and bronze medallists Argentina, who defeated Belgium in a penalty shoot-out of their own.

Hockey: Women’s podium

Gold: Netherlands

Silver: People's Republic of China

Bronze: Argentina

See all the results on Olympics.com.