Sarah Thomas realises Hockey Olympic dream
The Welsh Hockey Union is delighted to announce that Sarah Thomas has been selected for Great Britain's Women's Hockey Squad for Beijing.
Sarah, 27, will become only the third female Welsh athlete and the first female outfield player to represent Great Britain at an Olympic Games. The last Welsh female athlete to represent Great Britain at an Olympics, was Goalkeeper Helen Morgan who won a bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 when Sarah was only 11 years old.
After being told that she had been selected, Sarah said"I'm over the moon. Idon't think it's actually sunk in yet but it's going to be absolutely fantastic."
Sarah, who attended Vaynor and Penderyn School in Merthyr, started her hockey career in school at the age of 12 before joining Dowlais Ladies and then moving onto Swansea Ladies. She has played for Wales at all levels from under 16 to senior level.
After studying for a degree in Sports Science at Exeter University, the midfield / forward player upped sticks to Rotterdam to play in a top hockey nation where her progress was marked last season when she was awarded club player of the year.
Sarah has been based at Bisham Abbey since September, where the GB hopefuls have been training for the past eight months and this is partly thanks to SportsCover, Sarah's personal main sponsor who have given her financial support for the Olympic training campaign.
Matthew Riley, CEO of Sportscover Europe said, "We congratulate Sarah on her marvelous achievement. Sarah will be the sole Welsh player in the team representing Great Britain at the largest amateur sports event in the world. This is truly something she can be proud of and it is a success story that Sportscover are delighted to be associated with."
Sarah's rise through the hockey ranks from club, regional and international level echoes the ethos of Sportscover by being involved in amateur sport from grass roots to international level. Riley continued"Sportscover are proud to be supporting Sarah in her preparations for the Olympics in Beijing, and we will be cheering her and the entire GB squad on in their medal attempt in August."
Mike Leatt, CEO of Welsh Hockey added "Sarah's selection is an outstanding example of how hard work and dedication in your chosen sport can result in the ultimate goal, that of the appearing at the Olympics. We wish Sarah every success in Beijing and look forward to reading her blogs".
Sarah has been keeping a blog of her preparations for selection, the GB squad tour of Australia and her intensive training at Bisham Abbey and will now follow her amazing journey up to and including the Beijing Olympics. This can be found on the Sportscover website at http://www.sportscover.com/sponsorship.asp or through the link on our website 'home' page.
For further information please contact Beth Fisher at the Welsh Hockey Union on 029-2057-3947 or beth.fisher@welsh-hockey.co.uk
For full details please click here (greatbritainhockey.co.uk)
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