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July 7, 2008 August 8-24 - Beijing, China Three teams from the Pan American region have qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing: Argentina (women), Canada (men) and USA (women). In addition, two umpires and six technical officials have been appointed to officiate in Beijing.
After some modest Olympic performances (7th in 1988 in Seoul and in 1996 in Atlanta), Las Leonas won the silver medal in 2000 in Sydney, only losing to the invincible Australian Hockeyroos after a superb final (3-1), and were again on the podium in 2004 in Athens, this time with the bronze medal. In the period 2000-2006, they were consistently at the forefront of every international competition, winning the 2002 World Cup in Perth and finishing third at the 2006 World Cup in Madrid. Lead by multiple FIH Player of the Year Luciana AYMAR, Las Leonas have a strong core of seasoned veterans (captain Magdalena AICEGA, Agustina Soledad GARCIA, Alejandra GULLA, Mercedes MARGALOT) and some talented younger players (Carla REBECCHI, Rosario LUCHETTI). They are currently ranked 2nd in the FIH rankings after their victory at the recent Champions Trophy in Monchengladbach, Germany, where they dominated World Champions the Netherlands (2-0) and Olympic Champions Germany (6-2). In Beijing, they will play in pool B with Germany, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand and USA.
Canada last participated in the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney, where they finished 10th. They have participated in 4 previous Olympics, but always with modest results (unclassified in 1964 in Tokyo, 10th in 1976 in Montreal, 10th in 1984 in Los Angeles and 11th in 1988 in Seoul). Captain Rob SHORT (271 International Caps) will lead a solid contingent with 5 other veterans from the 2000 Olympics (Ravi KAHLON, Bindi KULLAR, Mike MAHOOD, Ken PEREIRA, Paul WETTLAUFER) and some eager younger players (Ranjeev DEOL, Wayne FERNANDES, Scott SANDISON, Marian SCHOLE, Peter SHORT) who have all been playing in Europe to step-up their preparation. Canada is currently ranked 15th in the FIH rankings, with only China (17th) ranked below them in the Olympic competition. It should be noted that Argentina (6th), India (9th) and Malaysia (14th) are ranked above Canada but failed to qualify for the Olympic Games. In Beijing, Canada will play in pool B with Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Pakistan and South Africa.
The USA returns to the Olympic Games after missing the 2000 and 2004 competitions. Before that, they were 5th in 1996 at home in Atlanta and 8th in Seoul, but their best result was a bronze medal in 1984 in Los Angeles after a dramatic penalty-stroke tie breaker with Australia. With Kate BARBER as charismatic leader, the American team is a hard working and cohesive unit, with strong individual players such as Tiffany SNOW and Carrie LINGO able to make the difference in the D, the ever improving Rachel DAWSON in defense, and the reassuring presence in goal of World Hockey All Star Amy TRAN, goalkeeper of the tournament at the 2006 World Cup in Madrid. The USA are currently ranked 11th in the FIH rankings, but will aim at doing as well as they did in 2006 when they finished 6th in the World Cup. In Beijing, they will play in pool B with Argentina, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and New Zealand.
She has been regularly appointed to Champions Challenges and Champions Trophies, but also to a second Junior World Cup (2005 in Santiago) and a second World Cup (2006 in Madrid). Beijing will be her second Olympic appointment, after Athens in 2004 where she officiated in 6 matches.
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<BR><FONT COLOR=#CCCCCC SIZE=-1>Picture FIH / Ira Erokhina</FONT>'))
Carolina Mariana DE LA FUENTE (Argentina) – Carolina was 25 when she started umpiring at international level at the 1998 South American Championship in Santiago. She promptly stepped up to the world stage, umpiring at the 2001 Junior World Cup in Buenos Aires and at the 2002 World Cup in Perth (where she officiated in 8 matches!).
Soledad IPARRAGUIRRE (Argentina) – Soledad started umpiring at the 1997 Junior Pan American Championships in Santiago and has been a regular in Pan American competitions, including two Pan American Games (1999 in Winnipeg and 2007 in Rio de Janeiro) and two Pan American Cups (2001 in Kingston and 2004 in Barbados).
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Technical Delegate (TD): Janet ELLIS (Canada) – Janet has been involved in hockey as an administrator (Field Hockey Canada President, Pan American Hockey Federation Treasurer and member of the FIH Competitions Committee) and as a technical official. She has extensive experience on the international scene, having already been appointed TD for the last two World Cups (2002 in Perth and 2006 in Madrid) and for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Assistant TD: Laura PIGRETTI (Argentina) – This will be the second Olympic appointment for Laura, who was a Judge in 2004 in Athens. Laura is a long standing technical official, with her first international competition as a judge more than twenty years ago. She was the TD at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo and at the recent WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier in Victoria, Canada.
Judge: Alberto “Coco” BUDEISKY (Argentina) – Beijing will also be the second Olympic experience for Coco, already appointed as a Judge in 2004 in Athens. On the Pan American scene, Coco was the TD at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro (for both the men’s and women’s competitions) and a TO at the previous Pan American Games in Santo Domingo.
Judge: Willard P. HARRIS (Trinidad & Tobago) has been a very active technical official in the Americas, as a Judge at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg and as a Technical Officer (TO) at the last two Pan American Games in Santo Domingo and Rio de Janeiro. He was also the TD at the recent WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier in Santiago as well as a TO at the 2007 Indoor World Cup in Vienna.
It should also be mentioned that Yan HUCKENDUBLER (Canada), member of the PAHF Media & Communications Committee and PAHF webmaster, will be in Beijing as part of the FIH Olympic Media Team; he will be one of the FIH Web Officers in charge of the special FIH Olympic site and of the “live commentaries”. Aaron SHER (USA), Chairperson of the PAHF Media & Communications Committee, will also be part of the FIH Olympic Media team.
