20 February 2020

Great Britain's Alex Danson-Bennett announces she's quitting hockey

Great Britain's Alex Danson-Bennett has announced her retirement from hockey.

The 34 year-old Rio Olympic champion earned an impressive 203 caps for England and 103 caps for Great Britain. 

At club level the striker played for Clifton Robinsons, Reading, Trojans and Alton.

She suffered a severe head injury in 2018 which left her out of the game for more than a year.

On her announcement she said: "After a long 18 months but a fabulous 18 years in the sport, it's the right time for me to retire.

"It's been the most incredible journey I could have asked for, but a lot has changed. My head injury has been life-changing, also in terms of my perspective and things that have happened within my family. Throughout my career I've been 100% immersed in being an athlete, but my priorities are different now. All of that means it's the right time.

"I've known over the last couple of weeks that it was a decision I needed to come to. It's difficult because this has been my life. It'll be strange moving into something new, but I'm totally thankful and content. I have zero regrets about the way I've lived my career."

Danson-Bennett is the joint all-time leading goalscorer with 115 goals for England and GB.

"This is not a sad retirement. I have played more games in more tournaments than I could ever have dreamt of. I have made life- long friends, travelled the world and loved every single minute of my career.

"Now, I will be the number one supporter of the team, I'd love to be in Tokyo watching, I just need to convince my husband! I came back to the squad because I believe they are a winning team. I'm sad not to be on the pitch but I will always feel part of it," she added.

For ten successive years from 2009 onwards she won a senior international medal, including European gold, London 2012 Olympic bronze, Commonwealth silver and World Cup bronze. 

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