Alexandra Mary Louise "Alex" Danson, (born 21 May 1985) is a retired English international
hockey player who played as a forward for
England and
Great Britain. She played club hockey for
Clifton Robinsons,
Reading,
Klein Zwitserland,
Trojans an
Alton
Danson attended two independent schools, Yateley Manor Prep School and
Farnborough Hill School
Farnborough Hill is a Roman Catholic independent day school for 550 girls aged 11–18 located in Farnborough, Hampshire. The school was established by the Religious of Christian Education order of nuns in 1889 and moved to the current site when ...
, a
Roman Catholic 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
Germany. 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
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
[Alex Danson profile]
GB Hockey. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
Danson was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire (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.
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 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
The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award is presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. It is awarded to the sportsperson aged 17 or under as of 1 January of that year, who has made the most outstanding con ...
(runner-up)
*2011
FIH World All Star Team
*2011 Reading Sports Personality of Year
[Great 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 Season
[Double 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
The Sports Journalists' Association (SJA) is an association for British sports journalists. It represents the British sports media on the British Olympic Association's press advisory committee and acts as a consultant to organizers of major events ...
)
*2015 Sportswoman of the Year (Sports Journalists' Association
The Sports Journalists' Association (SJA) is an association for British sports journalists. It represents the British sports media on the British Olympic Association's press advisory committee and acts as a consultant to organizers of major events ...
) (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
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...
) (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