Team GB women bowed out of the hockey quarterfinals after a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands.
The reigning Olympic champions took less than a minute to score their opener through Dutch captain Xan de Waard.
Hannah French struck GB’s only goal in reply but the Netherlands regained the lead shortly before half-time and added another to sweeten the deal.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said captain Hollie Pearne-Webb. “At half time we very much knew we were in it; it was 2-1 and we’d had opportunities.
“There’s a lot of us in that room that have done it before against Holland and come back and made it tight so there was belief.
“I feel so proud of the team. We fought so hard, and we were closer than anyone thought we were going to be.
“It’s the fine, tiny, tiny details. They scored corners which obviously you don’t want to give the Dutch corners they’re incredibly strong.
“If you look throughout the tournament that’s how they’ve scored the majority of their goals. “You can’t give them any opportunities. You need to limit them.”
Great Britain’s women have an illustrious record at the Olympics, having reached the podium at every Games since 2012, including a brilliant gold at Rio 2016.
The men’s team suffered a similar fate yesterday at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium after narrowly missing out on a semi-final spot at the hands of India.
An equaliser! 🇬🇧
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 5, 2024
Hannah French firing home the rebound against top seeds Netherlands.#BBCOlympics #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/soEvLWyVNe
Pearne-Webb added: “I think the British public have been incredibly spoilt over the last three Olympics with the women’s squad.
“It’s not normal to medal at Olympic Games if you look at world rankings. I think that’s sometimes what people forget.
“I wasn’t part of the London squad but for them to medal was incredible. We definitely weren’t expected to medal in Rio let alone get gold and the same in Tokyo getting a bronze.
“[The Dutch] are the number one side in the world for a reason. They haven’t lost an Olympic game since the Rio final, so we know they’re incredibly dominant.
“Pretty much everyone in the world had written us off before that game and we earned a hell of a lot of respect from the way we turned up, fought and held the best team in the world to a close fight.”
Sportsbeat 2024