Team GB’s women’s hockey team have won gold after beating Netherlands 2-0 on penalties after the final finished 3-3.
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Helen Richardson-Walsh scored a penalty stroke in the shootout and victory was confirmed when Hollie Webb made it an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Webb, who was a spectator when Britain won London 2012 bronze, imagined she was in a little corner of Berkshire when she stepped up.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Britain was thoroughly outplayed, yet weathered everything the star-studded Netherlands team could muster.
Asked what legacy had been created by Britain’s gold medal triumph, Richardson-Walsh replied: “For boys and girls, men and women to go out and do whatever it is they want to do”.
Richardson-Walsh will line up alongside her partner Helen – they were married in 2013 – and she said: “It will be really special to be in a final with her”.
Blacksticks captain Kayla Whitelock was yellow-carded for conceding the first penalty stroke with a cynical challenge on Helen Richardson-Walsh. Eighth in Sydney in 2000 and from that moment both myself and Kate just wanted to win a gold at an Olympics. The Netherlands had five players who were pursuing their third gold. “I think that’s a good way to go out”. We didn’t play well in the first three quarters – they battered us – but we were toughing it out.
“Tactically we were strong; technically we were strong”. Physically, mentally, we were the better team. “That makes it much more disappointing”.
That took it to the shoot-out in which Hinch was unbeatable and Webb scored the decisive fifth penalty.
“Goalkeeping has its highs and lows”, Hinch said. “You can be the villain, but you can also be the hero for the moment”. GB keeper Maddie Hinch reacted sharply to block her second effort.
“But they worry and hate playing us because they know we are gritty and feisty”.
“I told them after the semi-final that we have one more, one more win to do”. Britain’s Nicola White scored midway through the fourth period after a rebound on a penalty corner to tie the match.
Britain held on for a shootout – where players take it in turn having 30 seconds to score one on one.
“We’re not out there shouting it, it’s just part and parcel of who we are”, Kate said.
While they weren’t initially planning to come back for the 2016 Rio Games, the pair couldn’t resist the chance to compete for the gold alongside one another.
Kitty Van Male’s goal 6:27 into the third period gave the Netherlands a 3-2 lead, and at the end of the period the two-time defending Olympic champions appeared to be in control.
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However, Team GB suffered a couple of injuries in its match with New Zealand.
