The women's field hockey tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics was the first edition of the field hockey event for women at the Summer Olympic Games. It was held over a six-day period beginning on 25 July, and culminating on 31 July 1980. Games were played across two venues in Moscow, at the Minor Arena at Dynamo Stadium and Young Pioneers Stadium.^[1]

Quick Facts Tournament details, Host country ...

Women's field hockey
at the 1980 Summer Olympics

Tournament details
Host country	Soviet Union
City	Moscow
Dates	25–31 July 1980
Teams	6
Venue(s)	Minor Arena of Dynamo Stadium and Young Pioneers Stadium
Final positions
Champions	Zimbabwe (1st title)
Runner-up	Czechoslovakia
Third place	Soviet Union
Tournament statistics
Matches played	15
Goals scored	49 (3.27 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Natella Krasnikova Patricia McKillop (6 goals)
(next) 1984 →

Close

Zimbabwe won the gold medal finishing top of the pool at the conclusion of the pool stage. Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union won the silver and bronze respectively, finishing in second and third place in the pool.^[2]

In 1980, there was an International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA), separate from the predominantly male Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH). Because the FIH was the international federation affiliated to the International Olympic Committee, it supervised the Olympic tournament.

The FIH and IFWHA agreed that qualification for the Olympics would be decided by a joint FIH–IFWHA committee based on the results over the previous two years, including the 1978 (FIH) and 1979 (IFWHA) women's world championships.^[3]

Five teams qualified to join the host Soviet team: the Netherlands, West Germany, the United States, New Zealand, and Great Britain^[4] (taking the place of Wales, England, and Scotland, who had finished 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively in the 1979 tournament^[5]).

However, all five of these teams boycotted to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The United States and West Germany boycotted completely, and while New Zealand, Great Britain and the Netherlands competed in other sports, their hockey governing bodies pulled out.

This threw the tournament into chaos. Subsequently, the organising committee sent out invitations to other countries,^[6] though Ireland declined their invitation.^[7]