One of the many athletes to comment on this is Japan women’s defender Shihori Oikawa, who despite her team suffering a narrow 2-0 defeat at the hands of Pool A rivals Germany, was full of praise about her experience at the historic venue.
“It was really awesome to play in front of the crowd and feel that energy”, said the 35-year-old who was competed for Japan at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which were delayed by one year due to the Covid-19 global health pandemic.
“Tokyo 2020 will always be special to us [as hosts], but it is so nice to have spectators here in Paris. It is great to see and hear the fans. We also saw our families who are here too, which gave us energy in our performance. My parents were watching from the stands, which was so cool.”
Oikawa part of the Sakura Japan side that sealed a Paris 2024 ticket with a third-place finish at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier in Ranchi, India in January, being part of a defence that conceded just two goals in five matches. That defensive excellence was on show again in Sunday’s meeting against Athens 2004 Olympic gold medallists Germany, with Oikawa quick to recognise their positives despite the defeat.
“It was a tough game against Germany, but we played well”, said Oikawa. “I’m really happy about our performance as our defence did very well. Germany are a good team but our defence was very strong. We created a lot of opportunities but we couldn’t get the goals we needed.
“We are already focussed on our next game [against China on Monday 29 July]. We will stick to our structure with discipline and keep playing our style of hockey.”
When asked about her time so far in France and the Olympic experience, a beaming Oikawa said: “We are all really enjoying it here in Paris, having fun in the village and meeting friends [from other sports]. We went to the opening ceremony, being in the boat on the river, which was super. The atmosphere was really great, although the weather was not! We got really wet, but we got to see the Eiffel Tower with the Olympic rings and the incredible light show, which was amazing. We will never forget it.”
The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 take place from Saturday 27 July to Friday 9 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at Paris 2024, visit Olympics.Hockey.