Canadian field hockey teams prepare for last-chance qualifiers for Paris Olympics

With the Paris 2024 Olympics less than seven months away, Canadian athletes and teams are preparing for last-chance qualification events, looking to book their ticket to the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet.

Both the men's and women's Canadian field hockey teams find themselves in that exact spot and must finish in the top three of eight teams at their upcoming qualifying tournaments to earn a berth to Paris. 

It's a nerve-wracking and stress-inducing assignment that has even the most veteran players on the squads trying to remind themselves to stay calm and play with as much controlled emotion as humanly possible with the stakes as high as they are. 

The men's national team begins its quest to qualify in Muscat, Oman early next week, with their opening game set for Monday against Germany. Canada, ranked 17th, is in a pool with the aforementioned Germans (ranked 5th in the world), Chile (22nd) and New Zealand (11th).

To advance to the semifinals, Canada has to win two of its three matches. Should they do that, the team can clinch a spot in Paris by then either winning a semifinal or the bronze-medal match. 

"I love those moments where everything is on the line and the task in front of you is really simple. You just have to do the things that you're used to doing and doing well," longtime national team member Gordon Johnston told CBC Sports from Muscat. "If you can keep calm, find that quiet confidence, the ability to battle in every moment, ready to take any challenge, we'll be in a good spot."

Dramatic finish sent men to Tokyo in 2021

Great Britain, Pakistan, Malaysia and China are in the other pool. Johnston, who is preparing for his 199th cap for Canada, knows this is going to be a tough test and is still leaning on what unfolded four years ago to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics for inspiration. 

In one of the crazier finishes to a field hockey match, Canada, down a goal to Ireland, was awarded a penalty shot with no time left in the final match of a two-game showdown to go to the Olympics. Scott Tupper scored to send the game to overtime, and Canada eventually won on penalty shots.

It was dramatic and a wild scene as Canadian fans celebrated, and something Johnston says will always be one of the greatest moments in his career that started in 2011 with the national team. 

"That was one of the most special moments in my career. Not only representing the country, but to do it at home in front of all of our fans and our whole community, our friends and family. I'll never forget it," he said. "If we can have that same feeling, that same aura, the leadership of just doing the things that we know works, then other guys can draw off that too.

"So being able to lead each other, pick each other up when they're down and support each other when they're doing well."

In their final training sessions, Johnston said the team is confident it can earn that spot to Paris. 

"I know exactly who I'm fighting with. I know who's got my back and I've got theirs and I'm ready to go to battle with all of them," he said.

Should the Canadian men place within the top three, they'll be competing at the Olympics for a third consecutive Games, something the program has never done before. The team won bronze at the Pan Am Games in Chile in October.

And while the men are looking to keep their string of Olympic appearances intact, the Canadian women's team is trying to get back to a Games for the first time since 1992. 

The women's team had the opposite experience four years ago again Ireland in its attempt to earn a spot in Tokyo in a  last-chance qualifier. In their two-game showdown to go to the Games, the women also found themselves in a penalty shot showdown against the Irish team. The Canadians had mounted a 3-1 advantage in the penalties, only to watch it evaporate and lose 4-3. 

Women play Great Britain Saturday

The pain of that loss was not easy to overcome for the team, including Natalie Sourisseau, who is preparing for her fourth Olympic qualifying tournament for Canada.

"It definitely lasts a while. And like, some of it obviously stays with you for a long time. It was really difficult, but it also allows you to kind of grow as a person and as an athlete," Sourisseau told CBC Sports from Valencia, Spain. 

That's all behind Sourisseau and the Canadians now as they stare down this once-every-four-years opportunity. 

The 16th-ranked Canadians are in a pool with Great Britain (7th), Spain (8th) and Malaysia (18th). Like their male counterparts, the Canadian women will have to beat two of the three teams in their pool to advance to the semifinals. 

Then they'll have to win one of their last two games to qualify for Paris. Canada first plays Great Britain Saturday morning in Valencia. 

Belgium, Korea, Ireland and Ukraine make up the other pool. 

The Canadian women's team has spent the last week in Spain together putting the final touches on their game and strategy. Sourisseau believes anything is possible for the Canadians in this last-chance event.

"It's an Olympic qualifying tournament and there's tons of pressure and weird things always happen," she said. "I think that's why sport is exciting. If the higher ranked team always won, nobody would watch sports. Anything is possible for any team in this tournament."