COLOMBES, France (AP) — Oranje wins gold again in the women’s hockey after the Netherlands achieved its first Olympic victory of its kind.

The Netherlands defended his title from Tokyo by overcoming an early deficit and beating China 2-1 on penalties in the final Olympic Games in Paris on Friday evening.

The victory followed the Dutch men’s team wins gold a day earlier. The Netherlands became the first country to sweep all the medals in field hockey at the Games since the women’s tournament came into play in 1980.

“We both have gold medals – that’s historic,” said Pien Sanders, who scored in the penalty shootout with the men’s team almost 24 hours after her friend Thijs van Dam’s victory. “That means everything. I think the pressure is always very high for the Dutch team and that we are here with gold is so nice.”

Like the men, the women were surrounded by a sea of ​​orange. The Dutch fans filled the Yves du Manoir stadium and created a festive atmosphere. Just like the men, it was no walk in the park for them either.

The Netherlands fell behind at 5:54 when a defensive error on offense allowed Chen Yi to direct Dan Wen’s attack past goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal. After trailing for only six minutes throughout the tournament until the final, the Netherlands created numerous good chances in three quarters. Frederique Malta hit a corner kick on the left post and missed another on the right goal.

“It was actually a bit nerve-wracking,” said Maria Verschoor. “Until the end I thought, ‘Oh my God, is it going to happen?’ The whole time we were saying, ‘OK, it’s coming. It’s coming.’

Yibbi Jansen equalised with a corner kick 9 minutes and 11 seconds left in regulation time, sparking cheers, flag-waving and jumping in the stands. Sanders, Verschoor and Marijn Veen scored in the penalty shootout, setting off a party that could last all night for the Dutch players and their fans.

“We have all these celebrations,” Verschoor said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of parties in the next few days.”

Jansen finished the tournament as the top scorer with nine goals, but said: “If it’s not gold, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that we win.”

Former coach Alyson Annan claimed the second of two consecutive Olympic titles with China on the other side. Annan, an Australian native who led the Netherlands to gold in Tokyo in 2021, abruptly resigned in early 2022 after the Royal Netherlands Hockey Association investigated the team culture under her leadership following complaints from players.

Annan said China should be proud of its team’s performance, saying the country had entered the Olympics as underdogs and was just 10 minutes away from winning its first field hockey title at the Games.

“We won Olympic silver and were so close to gold,” Annan said, adding that she was not surprised by the run. “Six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, we would not have thought we would be here.”

The Netherlands improved their record against China to 21-0 over the last decade, with 15 of the previous 20 wins coming by multiple goals.

“It was a very close game,” said coach Paul van Ass, whose son Seve won gold with the men’s team. “Well, we attacked and they defended. But because they scored so early, they had time to defend themselves. And they defended very well.”

Argentina took bronze in women’s field hockey after beating Belgium in a penalty shootout. Argentina won a medal at the Games for the second year in a row, taking silver in Tokyo after losing to the Netherlands in the final.

“It’s crazy,” said Argentine goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino. “We are very happy. We came here to win medals and we couldn’t go back empty-handed.”

The Netherlands were the only country to win two field hockey medals of all colors in Paris. In the men’s competition, Germany took silver and India bronze.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games