| Field hockey at the Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC Code | HOC |
| Governing body | FIH |
| Events | 2 (men: 1; women: 1) |
| Summer Olympics | |
Field hockey made its debut at the Modern Olympic Games as a men's competition in the 1908 Games in London. It was removed from the Olympic schedule of the Summer Olympic Games for the 1924 Paris Games and was reintroduced in the 1928 Amsterdam Games. The Women's field hockey was introduced into the Olympic programme at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was founded in 1924 and governs the hockey events. Until the 1988 Olympics, the tournament was invitational but a qualification system was introduced since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The last edition at Paris was the 25th occurrence of the men's event and 12th consecutive occurrence of women's event in the Olympics.
India holds the record for the most appearances in the Olympic men's competitions (22) while Australia and Netherlands hold the same record in women's competitions (11). India leads the medal tally for the men's events with 13 medals while the Netherlands heads the women's events with 10 medals.
Great Britain won the first two editions of the men's event in 1908 and 1920. India won the gold medal in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964 with Pakistan winning three gold and silver medals each between the 1956 and 1984 Games. The matches are played on artificial turf since 1976. Since the late 1980s, European nations have dominated the hockey events with Germany and Netherlands having won three gold medals each in the men's event. In the women's event, Netherlands and Australia have been dominant, having won five and three gold medals respectively since its introduction in 1980.