Hockey icon Eva Drummond-de Goede passed over for Games in Paris

Hockey icon Eva Drummond-de Goede passed over for Games in Paris | Sports Other

2 apr 2024 om 12:38 Update: 12 min. geleden

Three-time Olympic champion Eva Drummond-de Goede will not go to the Games in Paris. The hockey icon has been passed over by national coach Paul van Ass. Margot van Geffen is also not part of the selection.

Drummond-de Goede and Van Geffen have an impressive honors list in Orange. Together they won Olympic gold in London (2012) and Tokyo (2020). Drummond-de Goede also became Olympic champion in 2008.

“It is not easy to tell internationals with such an enormous track record that they are no longer part of the Dutch team,” says Van Ass. “These are of course difficult conversations and emotional moments.”

Van Ass emphasizes how much the 35-year-old Drummond-de Goede (266 international matches) and the one year younger Van Geffen (265 international matches) have meant to Dutch and international hockey.

“We are extremely grateful to them for that. But my job as national coach is to select the very best players for the Olympic Games together with my staff. Unfortunately, we believe that Eva and Margot are no longer among them.”

Drummond-de Goede and Van Geffen are not the first big names that Van Ass passes. In January it was announced that 247-time international Lidewij Welten could forget a fourth Olympic title. Just like Drummond-de Goede, she would participate in her fifth Olympic tournament in Paris.

The Dutch team started preparing for the FIH Pro League in Utrecht and Amsterdam on Tuesday, which will be played from 22 to 30 June. The Olympic hockey tournament in Paris starts on July 27.