Great Britain’s women’s will face the Netherlands in their first-ever Olympic hockey final on Friday after an impressive 3-0 win over New Zealand.
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The lead was doubled after Black Sticks captain Kayla Whitelock gave away a penalty stroke when she bundled over a Great Britain player who was through one-on-one.
Holland stand in the way of a stunning and unprecedented gold medal for Team GB, with the side already achieving their best performance in Olympic hockey history.
They were two undoubted blows for Britain, but they regrouped quickly through a couple of penalty corners that ensured they kept the pressure on.
The 58-year-old was part of the team that won the team jumping gold at London 2012 on his sixth Olympic appearance.
A member of the British Olympic team has been held up at gunpoint during a night out in Rio de Janeiro, according to a report in the Guardian.
Somehow, the British escaped the onslaught and got to a shootout with the game tied at 3-3 after regulation.
Hinch is a great believer in homework.
Helen Richardson-Walsh converted the ensuing penalty stroke.
“To win an Olympic medal is special”, said Kate. Eighth in Sydney in 2000 and from that moment both myself and Kate just wanted to win a gold at an Olympics.
The Netherlands stayed on course for a third successive Olympics women’s hockey gold medal by downing Germany in a dramatic shoot-out on Wednesday.
Defeat for world champions The Netherlands denied the country a third consecutive Olympic gold medal with their last defeating coming the final of Athens 2004, when they were beaten 2-1 by Germany.
“We did everything we needed to do”, Netherlands coach Alyson Annan said.
Helen Richardson-Walsh told BBC Sport: “We didn’t feel nervous; we were confident”.
“Even though we didn’t play very well in the first three quarters”. Tactically, we were strong.
“The team that believes in what we’re trying to do and the team that, when the chips are down, you look one another in the eye and you never look down”.
Richardson-Walsh, 36, reaffirmed her intention to retire after her Rio triumph.
“Goalkeeping has its highs and lows”, Hinch said. “You can be the villain but you can also be the hero”.
Another player that was central to GB’s success on Sunday was the goalkeeper Hinch who saved the Dutch penalties, and afterwards she hailed the victory as a ‘huge team effort’.
The Dutch progressed to the final via a penalty shootout, but they had no answers on this occasion for the skills of Hinch.
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“I’m so proud of this team”. “It’s not been easy and it just shows that if you put your mind to it and dedicate your life to something you can make it happen”.
