Meet Mad Dog, the new (and brave) face of hockey

How golden goalie Maddie Hinch showed our sportsmen the way to execute the perfect penalty shoot-out

trainee lawyer who collapsed during Wednesday’s semi-final after being hit in the face by the ball, only to go back on the pitch after receiving stitches.

Kate Richardson-Walsh, the team captain, is as steely. In Team GB’s first match of the 2012 Games against Japan her jaw was fractured by a blow from a stick. Following surgery she returned, three games later, wearing a protective mask.

As well as bravery there had also been intense hours of preparation.

Before the final Hinch, who studied sport and exercise science at Loughborough University, taped notes on to her water bottle with prompts for how she wanted to play the game.

She also compiled a notebook outlining the Dutch players’ penalty-taking techniques.

“The notebook is shoot-out,” she told

after the match. “In there I have the players that I think will step up and for each of those players I have a plan of what I will do against them.

“I definitely think that plays a mental game against them, because if I was them, I would be wondering what was in the book about me.”

But, the 27-year-old from Pulborough, West Sussex, admitted that, despite her preparation, there had been purely for the nerves at the prospect of facing the Dutch. After all, the Netherlands are the world’s No 1 team, have won gold at the last two Olympics and are the reigning world champions. “Any hockey goalkeepers who say they have never closed their eyes and thought, ‘Please don’t hit me’, are lying,” said Hinch. Her start in goal was down to a PE teacher. “I was apparently incredibly dramatic playing rounders, diving everywhere for the ball, and Miss Lambert told me ‘we must get you in goal at hockey next term’,” she said. “I had never even really heard of hockey, I’d never seen it or played it. I think as a new kid they nominated me because no one else wanted to put the pads on. “At first I didn’t enjoy it at all. I didn’t understand what could be enjoyable about it, putting on 15kg of smelly kit and rolling the ball out to other people all the time. But there are days when you are treated like a hero when you have a good game, and now I love it.” Hinch said she has been stunned by the reaction of the British public to the team’s triumph. “My brother texted me to say ‘you’re trending on Twitter’. He didn’t mention anything about the gold medal – that came later,” she said. “I’ve heard the viewing figures on TV were huge and that’s exactly what we do this for, so people will watch the sport. We were completely unaware of how much people were starting to pay attention to us.” The goalkeeper had almost given up hope of Olympic glory after failing to be picked in 2012. “I had my heart set on being reserve keeper at London 2012, but I missed out on that and that was a big knock to me, I just thought ‘will I ever get to play?’,” she said. Several of her team-mates also faced obstacles on the way to glory. Defender Crista Cullen came out of retirement to