Chay Crista Kerio Cullen, (born 20 August 1985) is an Olympic Gold Medal-winning English

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

player.

Hockey career

Cullen made her senior international debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2003. She was part of the

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 ...

squad which won Bronze at the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Summer Olympics in London, as well as the England squad that won Bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. She retired from international hockey after the

Summer Olympics, aged 27. She earned 171 international caps. She came out of retirement in 2015 to join the Great Britain team for the 2016

Rio Olympics ) , 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 played an instrumental part in a team that went unbeaten throughout the tournament, eventually winning an Olympic gold medal. She has played club hockey for Leicester, based at the Stoneygate Preparatory School in

Great Glen The Great Glen ( gd, An Gleann Mòr ), also known as Glen Albyn (from the Gaelic "Glen of Scotland" ) or Glen More (from the Gaelic ), is a glen in Scotland running for from Inverness on the edge of Moray Firth, in an approximately straight ...

Awards

She was named in the International Hockey federation World Star XI following the 2006 Hockey World Cup, as well as 2006 Great Britain Hockey Athlete of the Year and Hockey Writers' 2005 and 2006 ''UK Hockey Player of the Year''. In 2006 and 2008 she was nominated for the

FIH Player of the Year Awards The FIH Player of the Year Awards are awarded annually by the International Hockey Federation to the male and female field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield ...

(Young Woman) Award and in 2012 she was nominated for the FIH Hockey Player of the Year (Woman) Award. Cullen 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.

Personal life

Cullen attended the independent

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

in Rutland. She then gained a BA in Business Studies (Strategy & Entrepreneurship) at the

Nottingham Business School Nottingham Business School is a full-service business school located in Nottingham, England. Formed in 1980, it is a part of Nottingham Trent University and in 2010 the school opened the regenerated Newton and Arkwright project. The redevelopme ...

, gaining a 2.1 in 2006. She works as a Business Development Consultant for

The Kennel Club The Kennel Club ("KC") is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also oper ...

and as Performance Director for Edwin Doran Sports Tours (edwindoran.com). Her father was a golfer and her mother played professional squash. She first played hockey aged nine, when living in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

until she was twelve. Her parents still live in Kenya where they run the ''Hemingways'' hotel near

Watamu Watamu is a small town located approximately 105 km north of Mombasa and about 15 km south of Malindi on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It lies on a small headland, between the Blue Lagoon and Watamu Bay. Its main economic activities ...

. Her brother Gray Cullen played junior rugby for England and in 2009 debuted for the

Kenya national rugby union team The Kenya national rugby union team is also known as the ''Simbas'' (''simba'' is Swahili for 'lion'). Kenya competes in the Africa Cup and is ranked thirty-third in the World Rugby Rankings as of August 2022. Kenya is yet to qualify for the Ru ...

. Following her success at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic, Games, Crista Cullen has founded Tofauti which is a charity aimed at making sustained conservational change in Africa. In 2020, Cullen's Tofauti Foundation became the charity partner of the Tofauti Everyone Active junior women and men's cycling team.

References

External links

*
Crista Cullen – Great Britain Hockey Player – Official website

Video clips

Her guide to hockey
(BBC) in 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Crista 1985 births Living people English female field hockey players People from Boston, Lincolnshire People educated at Oakham School Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Field hockey players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Field hockey players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic field hockey players of Great Britain British female field hockey players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Olympic medalists in field hockey Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Field hockey players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in field hockey Members of the Order of the British Empire Wimbledon Hockey Club players