Shona McCallin seals gold and an Olympic place

Great Britain hockey star Shona McCallin said winning a gold medal at the World League in Valencia was one of her proudest achievements to date.

Qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games was secured thanks to GB’s narrow 1-0 semi-final victory over Germany.

That was followed by a 2-0 win in the final over China, earning McCallin, of Dry Doddington, her first piece of silverware on the international stage.

Great Britain were undefeated in the tournament and conceded only two goals.

Former Newark Hockey Club player McCallin, 23, featured in all of the matches.

She said: “I am delighted. The aim was Olympic qualification. To have achieved that and excelled ourselves by getting a gold medal is fantastic.

“We were confident going into the tournament and our hard work has paid off.”

She said she was more nervous about the semi-final than the final, because defeat would have meant a nail-biting bronze medal match to determine which team reached Rio.

“In a strange way the semi-final was the bigger match and, to me, was probably more important than winning the gold,” she said.

“It was a tight and tough match but we got the crucial goal and then pushed on from that against China.”

Preparation was the key attribute which contributed towards the win, according to McCallin.

“We had a good mindset before we started and prepared really well at our training headquarters in Bisham,” she said.

“After that it was a question of following our game plans and building momentum which helped us achieve all we set out to do.

“Now I have to come back and prepare for what has to be the biggest year of my career so far.”

The players will now return to train with their respective countries ahead of the European Championships in London later this year.

McCallin is now enjoying a rest period and said she would use the time to prepare herself for another bout of training.

“I’ll go back down to Dry Doddington for a few days, and also take time to enjoy the things I haven’t had time for recently,” she said.

p Former Newark Hockey Club member Adam Dixon has played in both Great Britain’s men’s opening matches in the World League.

The side, also aiming for Olympic qualification, opened with 2-2 draws against Belgium and Ireland.

They are due to play China today.