Whitelock retires on a low note
Black Sticks skipper Kayla Whitelock had always flagged the Rio Olympics as her hockey swansong.
She’d been hoping to wind up on a high before settling into the farming life with husband and former Crusaders flanker George, and 1-year-old daughter Addison.
But after 255 caps for New Zealand in a 13-year career, and four Olympic Games stretching back to Athens in 2004, Whitelock is unable to add an Olympic medal to her achievements.
Her Black Sticks team were desperate to farewell their skipper with a medal but were were beaten 2-1 by ninth-ranked Germany in Saturday’s bronze medal match.
An emotional Whitelock told TVNZ after the game that she was done.
‘‘It’s been a long career, but it’s family time now,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m lucky to have played over 250 games for my country.
‘‘It would have been nice to come away with, obviously a medal, but it’s just not meant to be. So I’m sure when I’m retired and I look back over my career I’ll be happy, but there will always be that what if in the back of my mind.’’
The most disappointing part, 30-year-old Whitelock said, is that the chances were there for the win against Germany.
‘‘It’s frustrating more than anything,’’ she told AAP. ‘‘We tried hard, you can’t blame the effort that was done by the girls, but it was just our execution in the attacking circle wasn’t good enough today.
‘‘When you you dominate like that, you should be on top but unfortunately we couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. ‘‘Our execution wasn’t up to it.’’ Whitelock is the second-most capped player for New Zealand, behind Manawatu’s Emily Gaddum with 274.