Maddie Hinch

She began playing hockey after a schoolteacher spotted her catching and diving talents in a game of rounders. Initially she was not overly keen on playing in goal and suffered a number of rejections as a youngster,[3] but persevered and won a Youth Olympic Games medal. She made her full international debut in 2008,[4][5] but narrowly missed out on a place in the Great Britain squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She soon took over as number one choice and won the silver medal for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.[6][7]

In 2015, she enjoyed a breakthrough year, saving a penalty to ensure England won the EuroHockey Championships in London, then being nominated for FIH Goalkeeper of the Year.[8]

In 2016, she played in her first Olympic games, surpassing 100 international appearances[9] during the Rio 2016 Olympics. She won an Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016, saving all four penalties in the final shoot-out against The Netherlands. Her outstanding performance was widely credited in the media as the deciding factor in the game's outcome.[10]

Hinch has also played club hockey for Exmouth, Leicester and Holcombe.

In September 2018, she decided to step aside from the national team, expressing her will to get back in the near future.[11]

On 16 May 2019 it was announced that she had re-joined the England & GB Central Programme[12]

She has a degree in Sport & Exercise Science from Loughborough University.