The Black Sticks Women have qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, with confirmation today coming from the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
A fourth place finish at the recent World League Semi-Final in Antwerp saw the Black Sticks miss out on automatic qualification, but put them in prime spot as the next highest ranked team.
The spot was reserved for the host country Brazil, but they failed to satisfy the criteria established by the International Olympic Committee.
The top three finishers at both World League Semi-Final tournaments (Korea, Great Britain, China, Germany, Netherlands and Australia) secured an automatic Olympic berth.
Hockey New Zealand High Performance Director Terry Evans said it was great to have confirmation of the Black Sticks Women for Rio.
"Although we were confident we had done enough through the qualification process, until it was official there was always a level of concern," he said.
"This is an exciting time for the Black Sticks Women, but none of us are under any illusion as to the hard work needed if we are to be successful in Rio.
"Now that we have confirmation of our qualification, we have 12 months to prepare and that will come and go very quickly."
Meanwhile, the Black Sticks Men are now focussed on winning the Oceania Cup in Stratford over Labour Weekend, which is their final opportunity to qualify for Rio.
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