Team GB hockey players compete in their first Olympics as a married couple

ByCarrie Dunn

Published 08/08/2016 at 15:13 GMT

The Richardson-Walshes are ready to lead Team GB's hockey squad to the Olympic final - four years after their battling bronze medals.

Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh are both competing in their fourth Olympic Games - and hope this time that Team GB will make it to the final, getting their campaign under way today (Monday) at 10pm BST.

The couple married one year after the London Games.

Kate captained the side in 2012 - and unwittingly became one of the iconic images of 2012, an honour she could probably have done without.

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That's because she hit the headlines after she was hit in the face by a hockey stick, fracturing her jaw - but played on five days later with a metal plate holding the bone together.

Kate Walsh takes a stick to the face in 2012

Image credit: Reuters

She led the team to their third-place finish, retiring two years later - but could not resist the lure of one more Olympics.

Helen, meanwhile, had back surgery twice in the last year - but focused on Rio to inspire her comeback.

She told the Sun: "There were many days when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do it, but since I came back in January 2015, I’ve not missed a session.

"We won bronze in London and that was amazing. But ever since I’ve played this sport I’ve wanted to be a champion. And I want to give it everything for Rio to try to do that.”

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