Maddie Hinch: GB's Olympic champion goalkeeper retires after 'fairytale' career
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GB's Olympic champion Hinch retires 'at top of my game'
When Maddie Hinch saved four shootouts to seal Olympic hockey gold and make British sporting history, she was not prepared for what happened next.
That moment in 2016 was watched by nine million people on TV in Britain, the BBC's News at Ten was delayed, and she and her team shot to instant fame.
Hinch, announcing her international retirement, reflected on the "weight of the gold" after the "fairytale" in Rio.
"It's a part of my life I'll always struggle to comprehend," she said.
"But I feel incredibly grateful to be a part of the golden era of the sport," the 34-year-old told BBC Sport.
It was the first time Great Britain had won Olympic women's hockey gold, beating defending champions the Netherlands in dramatic fashion.
"At the beginning we were all flying high on adrenaline. We weren't used to it and we definitely weren't ready for it," Hinch added.
"For the amount of preparation we'd done, the one thing we hadn't really thought of was the fame and 'what if we do win?'"
'It was our time to inspire people'
Maddie Hinch had a little notebook with information about the opposition for the 2016 Olympic final
Initially "riding high" after the win, Hinch described returning to reality post-Rio as "overwhelming".
"I was now a name people talked about, watched and followed and I felt a feeling of expectation," she said.
"I talk about the weight of the gold medal because yes it's gold, but literally the weight I felt off the back of that was a period I wasn't prepared for.
"For a lot of us it was overwhelming. We were being taken left, right and centre, even chopping up carrots on breakfast shows and it was amazing because it was our time to share what we do and inspire people to believe it's possible.
"Going through that, I think, prepared me better for the later part of my career in the sport because without that I think I potentially would have stopped with resentment. But I don't have any of that."
Four months after Great Britain's gold-medal success, Hinch was awarded an MBE in the Queen's 2017 New Year Honours List for services to hockey.
On whether she has any advice for athletes thrown into the spotlight, she added: "Talk about it. I spent the best part of a year saying I'm fine, but more that I have to be fine.
"I had the perception I couldn't be vulnerable because in elite sport there is a perception that vulnerability is weakness - and that's not the case at all.
"I would have spoken out sooner if I could repeat that period of my life."
'I made a promise to myself'
Hinch (right) said the time was right to step away from the sport
The three-time European medallist played 186 times for England and Great Britain after making her international debut in 2008 aged 19.
In 2018 Hinch took a break from international hockey, before returning for Tokyo 2020 and helping GB win bronze.
She added to her medal collection last summer, when England claimed their first Commonwealth Games women's gold in Birmingham.
That completed the full set for the goalkeeper, who has silver and bronze Commonwealth Games medals from Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018.
On why she has chosen to retire now, she said: "I didn't know when I would feel that the time is right. You have to give 100%, so for me I would be frustrated if I wasn't living up to that.
"I made a promise to myself that when I'm no longer putting 100% in, then I'll stop and hand the number one shirt over to someone else."
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What is next for Hinch?
"I'm still competing for my club in the Netherlands [HC Tilburg], so I've got another 10 or so games of hockey and then we'll see," she said.
"I don't know if they will be my last games, or if I'll come back to the English leagues. I'm going to book a summer holiday first!
"I want to give more of my time to my company [a coaching business] because the community around goalkeepers is a special one and I've only really been able to inspire from the pitch.
"I would also like to go out there and see what life has to offer. I'd like to test the waters."
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