I remember conducting an interview with Lily Owsley way back in 2013 when she was gearing up for her international debut. A young player none of us had heard a lot about, fresh-faced and full of hope. Over a decade on from that, the former World Young Player of the Year is about to embark on her third Olympic Games.

I ask if the 2013 version of herself would be surprised at what she’s gone on to achieve. Not really, it seems.

“Lily then thought I was going to go to about ten Olympics. Lily then was the most optimistic person in the world. Zero baggage. Zero injuries. I was fresh!”

“I mean, I joke but genuinely as an 18 year old, I just thought anything was possible. I was a big dreamer and I was ambitious. I wanted to win a lot of things in my career. I wanted to go to a lot of things. And so all jokes aside, yeah, I dreamed it. I wanted it. And I guess that’s probably the reason now I just want to keep going.”

Owsley’s list of honours make for impressive reading: An Olympic Champion, a European Champion, a Commonwealth Champion, the World Young Player of the Year, Olympic bronze, Commonwealth silver, the list goes on and on. However despite a glittering career and despite going into her third Olympics, the 29 year old wasn’t taking anything for granted when it comes to selection – a process she does not enjoy at all.  

“Olympic selection and the build up to Olympic selection are just horrific. It’s a hard time for the team. It’s a hard time for the coaches. I don’t wish it on anyone. Unfortunately, it’s part and parcel of what we do.” she says.  

“Only 16 players are selected to go to the Olympics. But we train as a squad of 30 for four years. Suddenly half that team’s dreams have been crushed. It’s easy to be like, ‘you must be so happy about that selection’ and of course I am. But you have these close friends that don’t make it you have people that suffer injuries, it hurts a lot of people.

“You know what they’ve gone through, you know the struggles they’ve been through, you know everyone’s stories and unfortunately, you feel that pretty hard on selection day. I think it’s one of the weirdest days ever.”

Whilst Owsley feels the pain of those not selected, there is a healthy group of players who like her, studied and played at the University of Birmingham. No fewer than six of the group heading to Paris have turned out for Birmingham. (Anna Toman, Hannah French, Flora Peel, Lily Walker, Amy Costello and Owsley.) I joke that the Olympics is quite an alumni tour for them to head on.
 
“It is amazing. I think we had such a great experience at Birmingham university. You see them in such a different way. You form bonds and have stories that I won’t mention to the media! It’s amazing to have gone through so much with those girls. It was a special moment to play the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, but as far as post university trips go, Paris Olympics is quite good!”

Owsley collected a glorious gold medal at Rio 2016 followed by a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Whilst Great Britain have endured some difficult times since that Rio win, the Bristolian is confident they can find their way onto the podium once again.

“There are reasons why GB hockey have been so successful at the last three Olympics, getting three Olympic medals. I think we’re very good at showing up on the big stage. Our timing and our preparation is done to be peaking at the right time and I think we’ve got that right so many times before.

“I’m not saying we don’t have the best hockey quality, but I think our quality isn’t as good as some nations. When it gets to a stage like the Olympics, your mental resilience, and your grit shows a lot more sometimes than your hockey ability.

“Your fight, your passion and how much you want it makes a huge difference. To be honest, that’s why we’ve been successful in the past. Under pressure hockey doesn’t do the talking, the mentality and how much you can pull together as a team does. That is where we can really come out with another medal.

“Everyone from rank two in the world to about 8 are so similar. Everyone can beat everyone. It leaves a lot of uncertainty But for me that’s so exciting because that means if everyone’s faring quite similarly it’s going to be down to who can fight and who can want it more. I struggle to believe that people want it more than us”.