Helen Richardson-Walsh

Olympic Gold Medalist, GB Women’s Hockey

Sports Personality

Helen Richardson-Walsh, MBE is an English hockey player who plays as a midfielder. She 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 that won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

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What Helen Richardson-Walsh's clients say

Here is some of the feedback from audiences and clients who have worked with Helen.

"It was a real privilege to be in the audience for Kate and Helen's presentation. Their passion for sharing guidance on how to promote a united culture and to develop world-beating teams was palpable and infectious. The honest and open way they engaged with everyone in the auditorium, sharing both their strengths and their weaknesses, made their messages so much more powerful. It was an evening that will live long in the memory of everyone there."

Partner RPC, on behalf of Lloyds of London

"Helen is an inspiring speaker and shares her leadership story with integrity and humour. She is intelligent and engages the audience with her honest insights into resilience and how she returned to the team following a period of serious injury. Helen's reflections of her leadership role, working with the team to set the right behaviour is extremely inspiring and motivating."

Connect Health Advisory

"Helen was fantastic, she was engaged with the event MC, the staff, family and children on site for the entire duration of her time with us. It was a real pleasure to meet her."

GSK

"I have asked Helen to speak on a number of occasions about her experiences as an elite athlete. Each time she has tailored her speech to suit the audience, which has included children, parents, volunteers & PE students. She has the ability to engage her listeners instantly; she is always interesting and has a very good sense of humour. She has also been truly inspiring- such a good positive role model for young people. I have no hesitation in recommending her as a speaker to any group in the future."

Leicester Grammar School

"Helen was FANTASTIC! We're really happy with how the day went, and over the moon with Helen's involvement."

Pladis UK

"Some people have tough periods in their life. The same with Helen. Some of the injuries, the back surgery — there is a real story here. When you dig and scratch the surface of some of these athletes, what they’ve been through and come out the other side of.. They deserve everything they’ve got."

Danny Kerry,

GB Women’s Coach,

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Helen’s speaking themes

Languages:

English

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Helen Richardson-Walsh's 2022 biography

About Helen Richardson-Walsh

Midfield maestro Helen is one of the most experienced members of the GB women’s team. Having started her international career in 1999 at the age of 17, she became the youngest ever woman to represent GB hockey at an Olympics in Sydney the following year, and has gone on to compete at four Olympic Games. As part of the senior leadership group she played a central role in propelling the women’s game to victory on the world stage in Rio 2016. As she stepped on to the podium alongside her team mate and wife, GB captain Kate Richardson-Walsh, they also entered Olympic history as the first same sex married couple to win an Olympic medal playing for the same team.

Over the course of her 17 year international career Helen has 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 as part of the celebrated GB hockey team that beat the Netherlands in Rio to win her gold medal. Helen was one of only two players to score during a tense penalty shootout and is recognised at world level as one of the best in the business – shortlisted for the World Player of the Year Award and named in the FIH World All Stars Team three times.

This success however has not always been assured. After glory at London 2012 Helen’s career was threatened at the age of just 23 after she suffered two ruptured discs in her back within 11 months. With two rounds of back surgery, compounded by 3 rounds of surgery on her ankle, consultants warned that it was unlikely she would ever play competitive hockey again. Forced to spend two years out of the game she missed the World Cup in 2014, and had to watch from home as her wife and team mates stumbled to a lowly 11^th place. Their performance only compounded the feeling that she had lost the chance to achieve a goal that she had dedicated her life to and worked incredibly hard towards for the past fifteen years. Under intense pressure Helen underwent periods of depression as she started to question her self-identity, life choices and ability to achieve her goals.

Showing significant psychological and physical strength however she managed to return to the team after a two year absence and since the low of the World Cup has played an instrumental part of a leadership turn around at GB women’s hockey. Alongside Head Coach Danny Kerry and a close knit team of senior players they put in place team values and processes to create a winning culture within the squad. Central to this was working as a team to identify the key behaviours that they had to live and breathe every single day, and creating an environment that encouraged respect and support for each other, even while they were battling for selection. ‘Be the Difference, Create History and Inspire the Future’ was their team mantra, and in winning gold in Rio she feels immense pride that they have done just that.

Today, years on from her first Olympic Games, and having stepped down from international duty with almost 300 caps, Helen has been awarded an MBE for services to hockey and continues to play at club level in UK. She also acts as ambassador for UN Women, Access Sport, an Athlete Role Model for the Youth Olympic Games and sits on the Education and Development committees of the European Hockey Federation. Alongside this she has completed a degree in psychology, inspired by her experience in battling back from the doubts of her injury, and her experience of elite performance and winning teams. Most recently she has embarked on a master’s degree in Organisational Psychology. In 2021, Helen joined Tottenham Hotspur Women football team as Performance Psychologist.