The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 22) -- The Netherlands recorded a convincing 2-0 win over China to win their first gold medal in 24 years at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium on Friday, August 22.
Goalkeeper Zhang Yimeng of China produced a brilliant performance in the first half but was not able to stop goals from Naomi van As and Maartje Goderie, which gave the Netherlands its 2-0 gold medal victory.
The win was the Netherlands' first gold medal since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics while China achieved their best ever finish in the Olympics since their debut at the Sydney 2000 Games. Maartje Paumen of the Netherlands finished the competition as the top goalscorer with 11 goals.
Argentina defeated Germany 3-1 to claim the bronze medal in the competition and hence maintain their unbeaten record against the Germans since the 2007 Champions Trophy. Anke Kuehn's only goal in the game was not enough to cancel out goals by Rosario Luchetti, Carla Rebecchi and Noel Barrionuevo of Argentina.
The defeat meant that defending champion Germany finished the competition without a medal while Argentina maintained their bronze medal finish in Athens.
Australia maintained their fifth place finish they achieved in Athens with a 2-0 win over Great Britain in an early classification match, while the loss was still an improvement for Great Britain who finished eighth in the 2000 Sydney Games.
Two goals from Madonna Blyth and Hope Munro were enough to see the game through with Angela Lambert of Australia announcing her retirement at the end of the game.
New Zealand fell to their worst ever finish in the Olympics, coming in 12th position after their 4-1 loss to South Africa. South Africa played their best hockey in the competition scoring four goals in the game through Marsha Marescia, Jennifer Wilson, Vida Ryan and Cindy Brown. A Gemma Flynn equalizer in the 17th minute was not enough as New Zealand finished the competition losing all six matches.
