<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> Medalists </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> Medalists </Li> </Ul> <P> Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920 . The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, in France . The women's tournament was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics . </P> <P> The Olympic Games were originally intended for amateur athletes . However, the advent of the state - sponsored "full - time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self - financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage . The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full - time basis . In 1986, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to allow professional athletes to compete in the Olympic Games starting in 1988 . The National Hockey League (NHL) was initially reluctant to allow its players to compete because the Olympics are held in the middle of the NHL season, and the league would have to halt play if many of its players participated . Eventually, NHL players were admitted starting in 1998 . </P>

When did women's hockey became an olympic sport