Spectators of the Youth Olympic Games in 2020 in Lausanne remember this hybrid sport which appeared in the Vaudoise arena in Lausanne: 3×3 hockey.
With three players and a goalie, on half the ice, teams made up of players from different nations competed to, as the organizing committee put it, “promote integration and understanding between cultures”.
The format pleased the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the desire to see this sport develop in “real” Olympics was very strong.
So strong that since this week, the International Hockey Federation (IIHF) has decided to submit a detailed proposal to introduce 3×3 hockey to the French Alps Olympic Games in 2030.
The competition found success at the Youth Olympic Games in 2024 in South Korea and the IIHF then set about refining the format to present it to the IOC. The matches will no longer take place on a half-rink, but on a dedicated playing area, which will be 26 by 18 meters, instead of the 60 x 30 meters of a conventional rink.
The International Federation will formally submit its interest in adding a new discipline to the 2030 Winter Olympics discipline evaluation program in January next year and the IOC will make a final decision in the final months of 2025.
While waiting to see this new sport arrive at the Olympic Games, the IIHF will launch various qualifying tournaments around the world before setting up the first world championships in 2026. They will be open to eight teams, both for men and women. women, and will take place every year, as for five-on-five hockey.
