Team GB’s women’s hockey squad have won their first ever Olympic gold medal - with a goal from former Loughborough College student Nicola White helping to seal the historic victory, following a dramatic shoot-out in the final against the Netherlands.
The teams could not be separated in regular time after an action-packed match saw Great Britain fight back from a goal down twice, with Nicola White Crista Cullen and Lily Owsley finding the net for a 3-3 draw and forcing the shootout with the reigning champions.
With the pressure on, Maddie Hinch kept the Dutch at bay on four occasions as goalkeeper with Helen Richardson-Walsh scoring and Hollie Webb slotting home the winner for a 2-0 win on shootout and the Olympic gold.
The win completed a dream Olympic Games for the side, who have won each of the eight games played at Rio 2016.
“This is what we dreamed of and now we’ve got it. No-one can ever take that away from us,” said former Sport student White, after upgrading her London 2012 bronze.
“We’ve now gone unbeaten through an Olympic tournament, which is unreal. It’s the first time we’ve been to the final, so for us we’re over the moon.
“We always knew it was going to be very close but physically we stuck to it. We really put the legwork in to try and get them on the counter and get up the pitch.”
Coach Danny Kerry added: “We know we’re good at shootouts. We have some tough competitors and probably the best goalie in the world in shootouts. As soon as it went there I knew we would win.
“Today we had to defend, we had to dig trenches, but we changed things in the last quarter and it paid off.
“Eight of the group are multiple Olympians and we needed that experience today.”
Former Loughborough College student Nicola White (second from right) and the Great Britain squad celebrate beating Netherlands to win a historic Gold in the Olympic Women's Hockey Final in Rio de Janeiro(Alex Whitehead/SWpix)