The Dutch men’s hockey team snagged the gold in a nail-biting penalty shootout against their German rivals, but the victory quickly turned ugly as a brawl broke out right after the game-winning shot.
Duco Telgenkamp, who scored the golden goal, ending the tie-breaker shootout at 3-1, felt the urge to flaunt it in German goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg’s face.
The 22-year-old approached Danneberg, who was on his knees in anguish, and made a shushing gesture.
The act of poor sportsmanship quickly escalated into an ugly squabble at Paris’ Stade Yves-du-Manoir, as members of the German team rushed over to interject and defend their keeper.
Germany after scoring the winning penalty in the men’s hockey gold medal
match at the 2024 Paris Olympics.REUTERS
“The Dutch players need a very good day to score four goals against us,” the German keeper said ahead of the match, according to multiple reports. “So I think we have a mountain, and they will have big problems to climb us… the Dutch are really scared.”
Telgenkamp’s gesture appeared to be a spiteful jab in response to this pre-match comment.
A video of the scuffle, which showed Telgenkamp putting his hands on German star Niklas Wellen’s throat, ignited backlash as pundits and fans criticized the Dutch team’s sportsmanship, labeling them as “sour winners.”
While a handful of Dutchmen jumped in, others wanted no part of it and celebrated their victory.
The game ended in regulation at 1-1 after Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman and Germany’s Thies Prinz both scored in the fourth quarter.
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Brinkman, Thijs van Dam and Telgenkamp all netted in the shootout to give the Netherlands their 11th gold medal of the Paris Games.
