Oldest Olympic hockey player (female)

Akemi Kato (Japan, b. 13 December 1970) was 41 years 249 days old when she played for Japan against South Africa at the Riverbank Arena, London, UK, on 8 August 2012, making her the oldest ever female hockey player at the Olympic Games. Kato came out of retirement to represent her country at London 2012. She had previously played for Japan at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 as team captain. Even as far back as 2004 she was the oldest participant (at 33 years 245 days) in the Japanese Olympic hockey squad. She has won almost 400 caps with the Japanese team. Japan won the match 2-1 to finish 9th in the women's hockey competition.