Gemma McCaw (née Flynn, born 2 May 1990) is a New Zealand
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 who has represented her country in three Summer Olympics (
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
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 ...
, and
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
).
Early life
Born in
Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
, Gemma McCaw is the youngest child and only daughter of Rob and Michelle Flynn. Of
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
New Zealand women's national field hockey team
The New Zealand women's national field hockey team is also known as the Black Sticks Women. The team's best performances include a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a third placing at the 201 ...
(the ''Black Sticks Women'') since 2008, including for the team at the
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics and at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. In 2009 she was nominated for the FIH Women's Young Player of the Year. At both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, her team lost the bronze medal game and thus came fourth. She was part of the team which made it to the final game of the FIH World League in 2015, but the team lost 5–1 against Argentina.
Following the 2016 Summer Olympics, she took an extended break from hockey and later decided to retire. She came out of retirement in November 2019. In February 2020, she reached her 250th cap for the national team. Gemma Mccaw had intentions of competing again in the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
but with it being delayed due to the
Covid 19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
decided against it.
Outside hockey
Alongside
Luuka Jones
Luuka Jones (born 18 October 1988) is a New Zealand slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2006.
Early life
Jones was born in Tauranga in 1988. Her mother Denise Jones was a fan of the British actress Audrey Hepburn ...
Tiki Taane
Tiki Taane (born 17 December 1976) is a New Zealand-based musician, experimentalist, musical activist, producer, and live engineer. He was a member of leading New Zealand band Salmonella Dub but left after eleven years on 1 January 2007 to pur ...
, Gemma McCaw is one of the celebrities behind the
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...
's No Place Like Home tourist campaign launched on 25 January 2016. In October 2016 she became an ambassador for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. McCaw is also a
Sport New Zealand
Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) ( Māori: ''Ihi Aotearoa'') is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand.
Sport NZ believes sport is an integral part of New Zealand's culture and way of life. The o ...
ambassador.
Personal life
In 2013 it was reported that Flynn was dating
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
captain
Richie McCaw
Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...
. She moved to
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
in 2014 to be with him, became engaged to him in early 2016, and married him on 14 January 2017. They have two daughters, born in December 2018 and in May 2021.