Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh may want to reconsider their future. The couple are supposed to be moving to the Netherlands shortly. Having broken Dutch hearts, while securing Great Britain’s first women’s hockey gold medal with a devastating shootout win, they might find the reception a bit frosty.
GB’s first hockey Olympic title since Sean Kerly’s men’s famous victory in 1988 was a phenomenal achievement over the Dutch team who have been the rulers of world hockey for over a decade—and against the run of play. A goal from Nicola White in the final 10 minutes had levelled the score at 3-3, despite the defending Olympic champions having dominated both territory and possession, and took the game to penalty shuffles.
Four shots had gone begging before Helen Richardson-Walsh scored from a penalty stroke, the goalkeeper Joyce Sombroek ruled to have deliberately fouled Sophie Bray during her attempt. Two shuffles later—after Margot van Geffen’s shot had hit the post and been kicked away by the GB keeper Maddie Hinch—Hollie Webb, at 25 one of the youngest members of the team, stepped up to the 23-yard line to take Britain’s first potshot at gold. The ball clanged into the back of the goal like Calamity Jane shooting a tin can off the head of a drunk.
The Great Britain team had left nothing to chance for this tournament—a replica of the Rio pitch was built at their Bisham Abbey training ground—and they said repeatedly in Rio they had come for gold and nothing else would do.
Half of the players had won bronze at London 2012 and were keen to erase memories of a heartbreaking semi-final defeat to Argentina. They included Helen and Kate Richardson-Walsh, who are the first married couple to win gold for Britain since Cyril and Dorothy Wright, who took the 7m sailing class in Antwerp in 1920.
To be fair there were so few yachts competing in that Games only one team went home without a medal. The Richardson-Walshes and the rest of the team leave Rio having defeated all eight sides they faced. These were the couple’s fourth Olympics and also almost certainly their last. For Kate, who made her international debut 17 years ago, Brazil represents the culmination of a career that has made her the most-capped British woman hockey player.
When the teams emerged, the main grandstand was a wall of orange. There were fans wearing inflatable crowns and a man with a giant slice of Edam on his head. A tiny pocket of Great Britain supporters sat right in the centre of them and made considerably more noise.
Britain scored nine minutes into the game, after Bray took on three Dutch players at the edge of the D and, while Sombroek saved her shot, the rebound was tucked away by White. Netherlands equalised immediately on resuming in the second quarter, when Lidewij Welten stole the ball in midfield. She and Kitty van Male stepped on the accelerator, catching Britain on the break and allowing Van Male to run around Hinch entirely unhindered. She finished with a flick into the top right corner.
There were tanks parked forbiddingly on the road leading to the arena. Hinch did much the same job in protecting Britain’s goal. When Sam Quek fouled Laurien Laurink and conceded a penalty stroke, Maartje Paumen, the Dutch captain looking for her third consecutive Olympic title, sent the shot high and straight at Hinch’s head. She gloved it away as if she was swatting a fly.
For much of the match the Netherlands set up camp in Britain’s half so comfortably they might have considered lighting fires and sending a few players off for provisions. Even Hinch could not absorb all that pressure.
Paumen’s perfectly placed penalty corner shot 10 minutes into the second quarter had skimmed past her outstretched leg. Soon after half-time, three penalty corners in as many minutes resulted in the third goal scored by Van Male.
A lucky break allowed Britain to equalise when a long ball deflected past a hapless Caia van Maasakker and landed in a prime scoring position for Crista Cullen.
When they came out for the final quarter, the Dutch had 10 penalty corners and GB had none. They finally won their first with nine minutes of the game to run, a scramble at the goal mouth ending with the ball safely ensconced in the crook of Sombroek’s arm as she lay on the ground. A second, a minute later, was just as messy, but Sombroek had been drawn a foot further out of her ground, leaving a gap for White to slot home Alex Danson’s rebounded shot.