Alexandra Mary Louise "Alex" Danson, (born 21 May 1985) is a retired English international

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player who played as a forward for

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and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. She played club hockey for Clifton Robinsons,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, Klein Zwitserland,

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an
Alton
Danson attended two independent schools, Yateley Manor Prep School and Farnborough Hill School, a

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school for girls. Farnborough Hill School named their all-weather hockey pitch in her honour. She made her full international debut on 23 October 2001 against

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. She won a gold medal at the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

and a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.Alex Danson profile
GB Hockey. Retrieved 4 June 2014. Danson was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to hockey. Later that year Danson was announced as the England Women's Hockey Captain in June 2017 and led the team through to the last four in the semi-finals of the world league. Also in 2017, Danson launched the Alex Danson Hockey Academy, aimed at introducing young children to the sport through their schools to increase awareness and participation in hockey at a grassroots level. She played her last international match on 2 August 2018, against

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was her 306th appearance for England and Great Britain. Danson announced her retirement from playing hockey on 20 February 2020.

Honours and awards

Honours

;Representing Great Britain Olympic Games *2016 Rio de Janeiro: Gold *2012 London: Bronze FIH Champions Trophy *2012 Rosario: Silver ;Representing England EuroHockey Nations Championship *2015 London: Gold *2013 Boom: Silver *2011 Monchengladbach: Bronze *2009 Amstelveen: Bronze *2007 Manchester: Bronze *2005 Dublin: Bronze Commonwealth Games *2014 Glasgow: Silver *2010 Delhi: Bronze *2006 Melbourne: Bronze World Cup *2010 Rosario: Bronze FIH Champions Trophy *2010 Nottingham: Bronze FIH Champions Challenge I *2007 Baku: Bronze *2002 Johannesburg: Gold ;Country *London Cup Winner: 2012 *London Cup Third-place: 2011 ;Reading Hockey Club * EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy Winners: 2013 * EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy Runners-up: 2014 *

Women's England Hockey League The Women's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features women's teams from England. From 2011-2020 it was sponsored by Investec and was referred to as the Investec Women's Hockey League. Format Regula ...

Winners: 2010–11, 2012–13; Runners-up: 2011–12 *English Indoor Championship Winners: 2012–13, 2013–14; Runners-up: 2010–11, 2011–12 *English League (regular season) Winners: 2011–12 *English Indoor League (regular season) Third-place: 2013–14

Awards and nominations

*2001 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Young Personality (runner-up) *2011 FIH World All Star Team *2011 Reading Sports Personality of YearGreat week continues for Alex
Get Record. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2013. *2011 UK Female Player of the Year (Hockey Writers' Club) *2011–12 Premier League Player of the SeasonDouble Award for Alex Danson
Get Reading. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012. *2011–12 Premier League Top Scorer *2011–12 Premier League All Star Team *2012 UK Female Player of the Year (Hockey Writers' Club) (runner-up) *2012 London Cup Player of the Tournament * 2014–15 FIH Hockey World League Semi-finals Player of the Tournament * 2015 EuroHockey Nations Championship Player of the Tournament *2015 Committee Award ( Sports Journalists' Association) *2015 Sportswoman of the Year ( Sports Journalists' Association) (4th place) *2015 UK Female Player of the Year (Hockey Writers' Club) (third-place) *2015 FIH Women's Player of the Year ( International Hockey Federation) (nominated)

References

External links

*
Alex Danson
at GB Hockey (archived) * * (also se
archived copy of former page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danson, Alex 1985 births Living people Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England English female field hockey players Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic field hockey players of Great Britain British female field hockey players Olympic medalists in field hockey Sportspeople from Southampton Field hockey players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games People educated at Farnborough Hill Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Members of the Order of the British Empire Female field hockey forwards HC Klein Zwitserland players Reading Hockey Club players Women's England Hockey League players