Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

11. Competition Management
by Sport
330
39
11.12
Hockey
Twelve men's teams and eight women's
teams competed in the Olympic
hockey competitions at the Songnam
Stadium, from September 18 to
October 1.
In the men's event, Great Britain and
the Federal Republic of Germany
played in the finals, and in the
women's event, Korea played Australia
for first place.
Although as many as six matches
were played each day over four days,
hockey competitions were staged
without any problems. Great Britain
won the men's competition, and
Australia captured the women's gold.
The Indian men's team, which had
won six consecutive Olympic titles,
finished sixth. Korean women's team
placed second, and the men's team
10th.
11.12.1
Competition
—————————————–
Preparations
The SLOOC created the hockey office
in the Sports Operations Department I
in January 1986, and the hockey competitions
of the Asian Games in Seoul
were subsequently held. A 14-member
Hockey Operations Committee was
organized in January 1987 for consultations
on the Olympic hockey competition
master plan; in June a hockey
competition manual was published.
The Hockey Operations was activated
in January 1988, with an organizational
hierarchy consisting of a commissioner,
secretary-general, director,
six managers and 27 officers. The
staffing included four staff members of
the SLOOC, 171 supporting personnel,
394 volunteers, and 52 temporary
employees.
The operations personnel were
selected mainly by the Korea Hockey
Association on the basis of experience
and abilities.
Job education was conducted in March
and April 1988, and field adaptation
training was conducted until September,
to cultivate skills in competition
management.
The teams that qualified to participate
were: the host country, the winner of
the previous Olympic Games hockey
competitions, and the winners of international
hockey tournaments approved
by the International Hockey Federation
(FIH). To ensure regional balance, one
team from each continent was designated
to participate in the Olympic
hockey competitions.
Twelve men's teams qualified:
Pakistan, the winner of the 23rd Los
Angeles Games hockey competition;
India in the Asian region; the U.S.S.R.,
Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain,
and the Federal Republic of Germany
in the European region; Argentina in
South America; Australia in Oceania;
Kenya in Africa; Canada in North
America; and host Korea.
Eight women's teams qualified: the
Netherlands, winner of the Los
Angeles Games hockey competition,
Great Britain, Argentina, the U.S.A.,
Australia, the Federal Republic of
Germany, Canada, and host Korea.
The competitions were managed by
umpires and judges appointed by the
FIH. The appeals jury was commissioned
by the FIH to deal with protests.
The technical delegates of the FIH
were responsible for the overall supervision
of the competitions. Six officials
of the FIH, ten members of an appeals
jury, 22 judges and 30 umpires were
involved in running the Olympic
hockey competitions.
A total of 62 matches were played at
the first and second fields of the Songnam
Stadium, located about 12 kilometers
from the Olympic Village.
The first field of play was is covered
with artificial turf made of German
poligrass, and was 21,262 seats. The
second field of play has covered with a
Kony Green synthetic surface, and
provided 2,000 seats for the spectators,
and one warm-up area.
Two large scoreboards and 12 video
terminals were installed at the venue.
A pitch at the Sangmu Stadium was
available for training, while Songnam
Stadium and a supplementary pitch
were made available for training when
no competitions were scheduled. The
training timetable was worked out to
provide training time on a daily average
of one hour and 30 minutes per
team, without favoring or privileging
any specific team.
The training sites were furnished with
the same equipment to be used for
actual competitions, and provided
locker rooms, showers and training
rooms. The first field of play was used
49 times from September 8-30, the
second field of play was used 52 times
from September 8-30, and the Sangmu
Stadium pitch was used 53 times from
September 6-28.
In accordance with a policy to use
locally made equipment whenever
possible, most of the equipment,
except for the 1,120 hockey balls and
some other items donated by foreign
manufacturers, was secured through
Rankings of NOC
Ranking Men's Team
1 Great Britain
2 Fed. Rep. of Germany
3 Netherlands
4 Australia
5 Pakistan
6 India
7 U.S.S.R.
8 Argentina
9 Spain
10 Korea
11 Canada
12 Kenya
local manufacturers. The hockey goal
posts, manufactured by the Punggook
Co., were secured and installed at the
venue, training sites and warm-up
areas.
11.12.3
Conduct of the Competitions
—————————————–
The 12 participating teams were
randomly selected and placed in two
pools of six teams each. All teams in
each pool played against each other to
determine rankings, with points
awarded for each match: two points to
the winner, one point in the event of a
draw, and no points to the loser.
The semifinals were played between
the first place team of Pool A and the
second place team of Pool B, and the
first place team of Pool B played
against the second place team of Pool
A. The winners of these matches
played in the finals for the first and
second places, and the losers played
for the third and fourth places.
The women's teams were also divided
into two pools, to conduct the finals
and rankings matches in the same
manner as the men.
The men's teams competed in the
preliminary round from September
18-26, and in the rankings matches
from September 28-30. The finals and
the match for the third and fourth
places were held on October 1.
The women's teams competed in the
preliminary round from September
21-27, and rankings matches for the
fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth places
were held on September 29. Matches
for the finals and the third and fourth
places were held on September 30.
The good performance by the Korean
team which advanced to the finals,
contributed to the heavy ticket sales
which totalled 115,891.
In the men's event, Great Britain
placed first, the Federal Republic of
Germany second, and the Netherlands
third. In the women's event,
Australia placed first, Korea second,
and the Netherlands third.
Women's Team
Australia
Korea
Netherlands
Great Britain
Fed. Rep. of Germany
Canada
Argentina
U.S.A.