‘Young, fresh’ GB team have desire to compete for medals
Great Britain women’s hockey team are raw, fresh and inexperienced in comparison to the side which Alex Danson-Bennett won Olympic gold with in Rio five years ago, but the former Olympian believes the side’s desire will stand them in excellent stead of competing for medals.
Alex is one of her country’s most decorated hockey players, having won gold and bronze at the Olympics and a raft of other medals including European gold, Commonwealth silver and World Cup bronze. In 2016 she was awarded an MBE for her services to hockey and a year later was voted captain of the side by her teammates, only for a freak head injury to ultimately lead her to call time on her international career last year.
She’s now working as a performance champion for Vitality and GB Hockey, using her passion and drive to help businesses prioritise the health and wellbeing of staff. But she will also be lending her experience and support to GB’s women’s team as they prepare for the Olympics in Tokyo which has been delayed by a year.
Assessing the country’s chances of repeating their gold-medal winning feat in Rio in 2016, Alex said: “Absolutely, they’ve got a chance. The year’s delay will help them because there’s a lot of talent there. They’re young and fresh but going to your first Olympics it’s like you’re almost one and a half people in terms of your desire to do well and be a first time Olympian.
“But there’s also a nice blend of experience, players that have been there before and tasted success.
“The additional year of training will have done them the world of good, and I think they’ll do very well. “At one point my husband and I had talked about going out there to watch. I don’t think we’ll be doing that now, but we’ll certainly be cheering them on from home and I think they’ve got just as much chance as anyone of doing incredibly well.”