[1][2] Twelve teams competed in both the men's and women's Olympic hockey tournaments with the competition consisting of two rounds.

[3] Remaining teams competed in classification matches to determine their ranking in the tournament.

During extra time, play followed golden goal rules, with the first team to score declared the winner.

If no goals were scored during extra time, a penalty stroke competition took place.

[3] The competition schedule was released on 29 May 2008, by the International Hockey Federation and Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.