30 Facts About Helen Richardson-Walsh

Helen Richardson-Walsh is an English hockey player who plays as a midfielder.

Helen Richardson-Walsh has been a member of both the England and the Great Britain women's field hockey teams since 1999, and was a member of the Great Britain team who won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Helen Richardson-Walsh began playing hockey at a young age, joining West Bridgford Hockey Club at the age of seven.

Helen Richardson-Walsh initially attended Uphill Primary school in Weston Super-Mare before returning to her home town of West Bridgford where she attended West Bridgford School and South Nottingham College.

Helen Richardson-Walsh started a degree course in Human Biology at Aston University in 2000 but did not complete the course.

Helen Richardson-Walsh achieved 293 international caps for England and Great Britain, making her at the point of her retirement, the 5th most capped GB player in the history of the women's game.

Helen Richardson-Walsh represented Great Britain at the Sydney, Beijing, London and Rio Olympic Games.

Helen Richardson-Walsh won her first England cap in 1999, at the age of 17.

Helen Richardson-Walsh competed in her second Olympics in 2008, where Great Britain did not advance to the semi-finals.

Helen Richardson-Walsh was left out of the England squad for the 2014 World Cup, but returned to international hockey with the Great Britain team in April 2015.

Helen Richardson-Walsh was a member of the Great Britain team that won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first time that Great Britain had won gold in women's hockey.

Helen Richardson-Walsh scored one of Great Britain's two penalties in the deciding penalty shoot-out in the final against the Netherlands.

Helen Richardson-Walsh progressed to play for Sherwood Hockey Clubs before joining Leicester Hockey Club.

In 2016, Helen Richardson-Walsh announced that she would leave Reading Hockey Club with her wife Kate to join HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands after the Olympics, and suggested that she would retire from international hockey.

In 2018, Helen Richardson-Walsh confirmed that she would play for another season at CCHC, as well as taking on an Assistant Coaching role at the club.

Between 2012 and 2016, Helen Richardson-Walsh held the role of a 'Sky Sports Living For Sport Athlete Mentor' as part of the Youth Sport Trust.

In July 2014 during a break from hockey caused by injury, Helen Richardson-Walsh volunteered in Bali teaching English to fishermen and their families and participating in a coral re-building programme.

Helen Richardson-Walsh is an Ambassador for Access Sport, a charity whose mission is to give more children, particularly in disadvantaged areas, access to a wide range of quality local sport.

Helen Richardson-Walsh was part of the commentary team for the 2017 Eurohockey championships, along with her wife Kate, which was broadcast on BT Sport.

Helen Richardson-Walsh provided hockey commentary and analysis for BBC Sport and Radio 5 Live at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and analysis for the 2018 World Cup on BT Sport.

Helen Richardson-Walsh was selected to be an Athlete Role Model for the Youth Olympic Games which will take place in Bunoes Aires, Argentina in 2018.

Helen Richardson-Walsh has completed a degree in psychology with the Open University.

In 2017 Helen Richardson-Walsh won the Sports Person of the Year in the Sport Nottinghamshire Awards.

Helen and Kate Richardson-Walsh were awarded the National Lottery Spirit of Sport Award at the 2017 annual Sports Journalist's Association British Sports Awards.

In 2008, Helen Richardson-Walsh began a relationship with her Great Britain and England teammate Kate Walsh.

In September 2019, Helen Richardson-Walsh announced on social media that she was pregnant with the couple's first child, with the child being due at the end of the year.

On 31 December 2019, Helen Richardson-Walsh gave birth to a daughter named Pfeiffer.

Helen Richardson-Walsh's father coaches Winscombe Ladies Hockey Club, where Richardson-Walsh's younger half-sister Gabby is a first team player.

Helen Richardson-Walsh has three older brothers, including Andy Richardson, who is the Chairman of Cambridge Hockey Club, and Steven Richardson, who plays for Wimbledon Hockey Club.

Helen Richardson-Walsh has spoken about mental health issues including her experiences of depression in 2008 and 2014.