A DOUBLE VICTORY

Kate Richardson-Walsh, 41, and her wife Helen became the first same-sex couple to win Olympic gold

-  JENNY ACKLAND

Watching as my wife Helen, then 34, took a penalty stroke, I erupted into cheers as the ball hit the back of the net, securing the win.

‘Go, Helen!’ I shouted, unable to contain my joy. I wasn’t part of the crowd watching Helen’s hockey match and cheering her on, though – I was part of her team. And, that day in 2016, we’d made history in more ways than one.

My love affair with hockey had begun in 1992, when I was 12 years old. ‘Can’t you play in the garden?’ my mum Barbara would protest as my sister Rachel, then 10, and I chased a ball around our hall, bashing our hockey sticks on the wooden floor.

But Mum didn’t mind, really, because she was a brilliant hockey player, too, and I was her biggest fan. I loved cheering her on at the matches she played locally. And she’d always laugh as my friends and I held our annual mini-Olympics in the cul-de-sac where we lived in Stockport.

At first, hockey was just a bit of fun. I loved playing on a team and the camaraderie of it all.

But as I grew up, it became more than just a hobby. I was good – really good, in fact - and, in 1997, when I was 16, I joined the England under-18 team.

That’s where I met Helen, then 14, who was one of my teammates. We became great friends, and even outside of training, we were constantly chatting on the phone. In 2001, we moved in together with another hockey player. As the years passed, though, our friendship turned into something more.

In 2003, aged just 23, I was made England captain of the senior GB hockey team. Helen was so happy for me.

‘You’ll be amazing!’ she told me.