Tamer Named to USA Field Hockey's 2024 Paris Olympic Team
6/11/2024 2:24:00 PM | Field Hockey, Olympics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- University of Michigan junior Abby Tamer was named to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Field Hockey Team by USA Field Hockey on Tuesday (June 11). Tamer is one of 16 athletes selected to represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
"The full centralized group of 28 athletes have worked exceptionally hard this year and made the final selection difficult," said U.S. Women's National Team head coach David Passmore. "While the results weren't what we wanted during the European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League, we have diligently reviewed video and performance analysis while choosing a group of athletes we feel can push for a quarterfinal berth in Paris."
Of the 16 Team USA athletes, all of them competed collegiately across 12 institutions and six conferences: ACC, Pac-12, Big East, Big Ten, Ivy League and Patriot League. Tamer is one of eight Big Ten representatives, one of five current collegiate student-athletes and the first Olympic selection in Michigan field hockey history. Head coach Marcia Pankratz is a two-time Olympian, playing with Team USA at the 1988 Seoul and 1996 Atlanta Games. In 1996, she scored three of the team's eight goals in Olympic play.
Tamer, who redshirted the 2023 collegiate season while training with Team USA, has appeared in 39 games in two seasons at Michigan, starting 28 at forward and midfield. She owns 13 career goals and nine assists, ranking among the team leaders with nine goals in 2022, and was named to the NFHCA All-West Region second team.
A native of Whitmore Lake, Mich., Tamer played a key role in the United States' Olympic qualification, scoring the game-winning goal in the 55th minute of a 2-1 comeback win over Japan in the semifinals of the Olympic Qualifier held Jan. 13-19 in Ranchi, India. The semifinal win to locked up Team USA's qualifying berth, guaranteeing the necessary top-three finish at the event, as the Red, White and Blue went on to claim silver. Tamer also scored the lone goal in a 1-0 decision against host India in the first game of pool play.
Field hockey has appeared on the Olympic program 25 times since 1908, while women's field hockey was introduced in 1980 and has appeared every year since. The U.S. women's team has qualified seven times and will return in 2024 after missing the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The Paris Games kick off July 26 and will conclude Aug. 11. Field hockey competition is slated to run from July 27-Aug. 9, and will be held at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.
