James John Foster was a Scottish-Canadian ice hockey goaltender. He is best known for his role in leading the Great Britain men's national ice hockey team to its only gold medal, in ice hockey at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He was posthumously inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2023.

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.