The Insurance Institute of Ipswich, Suffolk & North Essex Prize winner's Ceremony 2024

Helen Richardson-Walsh is one of the most experienced players in GB hockey history. At the age of 18 she became the youngest ever woman to represent GB hockey at an Olympics in Sydney, and went on to compete at four Olympic Games. Over the course of her 18 year international career she amassed a Commonwealth bronze and two silvers, a bronze at London 2012, and the European Championship title in 2015, before finally reaching the pinnacle of her sport with an Olympic gold at Rio 2016.Success however has not always been assured. Helen’s career was threatened at the age of just 23 with two rounds of back surgery. Consultants warned it was unlikely she would ever play hockey again, and having lost her place in the squad she experienced a loss of identity and period of depression. Helped through this by her wife Kate, her own reading into psychology and the support structure within hockey she battled back to retake her place in the squad, and contribute as a senior leader to the resurgence of GB women’s hockey. Today Helen continues to play at club level, and has completed a degree in psychology, inspired by her experience in battling back from injury, and her experience of elite performance and winning teams. She is now studying for a masters in organisational psychology, serves as an ambassador for Access Sport, is an Athlete Role Model for the Youth Olympic Games and is patron of Tottenham’s LGBT fan club The Proud Lilywhites.