Olympic Trivia

* Some interesting facts about the coaches in this Olympics: Jenny King, coach of the South Africa women’s team, is the only female coach among the 24 teams participating in Beijing.

· Netherlands men’s coach Roelant Oltmans used to coach Olympic rivals Pakistan, while current Spain men’s
coach Maurits Hendriks took The Netherlands to the Olympic Gold medal at Sydney 2000.

· Before taking over as coach of Germany men, Markus Weise took Germany women to Olympic Gold at the
Athens 2004 Games.

· At just 32 years old, Belgium’s Adam Commens is the tournament’s youngest coach. Commens also has an
Olympic medal, winning Bronze at Sydney 2000 with Australia. Former Belgium coach Gilles Bonnet is now an
assistant coach for the Chinese men.

* British veteran midfielder Jennie Bimson has been forced to withdraw from the Olympics due to a torn calf muscle, being replaced by 20-year-old Scot Laura Bartlett.

* More high profile visitors to the hockey stadium in Beijing. Princess Anne watched Britain's men in action against The Netherlands on Sunday. She watched along with Sebastian Coe – Chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games – and FIH President and IOC member Els van Breda Vriesman.

Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Phillips occasionally plays hockey for English club Cheltenham Ladies.

Argentinean tennis star David Nalbandian, meanwhile, came to the hockey stadium on Thursday to support Las Leonas in their crucial triumph over Japan.

Nalbandian, who has eight career ATP titles and is currently ranked 8th in the world, sat through a tense
encounter between his countrywomen and Japan.