Richard Alexander Leman (born 13 July 1959) is a former

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player who was a member of the gold medal-winning

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

squad in the

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Summer Olympics in Seoul.

Biography

Leman was born in

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. Between 1973 and 1977, he was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

, Holt, where he played in the school's 1st XI hockey team and Captained the 1st XI cricket team and had England Schoolboy trials for both sports. He played club hockey for

East Grinstead Hockey Club East Grinstead Hockey Club is a professional field hockey club based in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. It is one of the most successful clubs in the United Kingdom with National League Outdoor and Indoor honours. It was founded in 1897. T ...

in the

Men's England Hockey League The Men's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features men's teams from England and Wales. Format Regular season There are 62 teams in the league, the top tier consists of a Premier Division of ...

and played in the

1982 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1982 Men's Hockey World Cup was the fifth edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the FIH. The event took place from 29 December 1981 to 12 January 1982 in Mumb ...

and won a bronze medal at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Summer Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He also won silver with the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

squad at the

1986 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1986 Hockey World Cup was the sixth Hockey World Cup men's field hockey tournament. It was held in London, England. The competition was won by Australia, who defeated host nation England men's national field hockey team, England 2–1 in the ...

in London. In 1984 Leman was awarded ''UK Hockey Player of the Year''. Still at East Grinstead and after the 1988 Olympic gold medal he represented and captained England at the

1990 Men's Hockey World Cup The 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup was the seventh edition of the Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the FIH. It was held in the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan from ...

. He captained Great Britain and England from 1988 to 1990 ending his career with 228 caps, a record until beaten by

Jon Potter Jonathan Nicholas Mark Potter (born 19 November 1963) is a former field hockey player who was a member of the gold-winning Great Britain squad at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. After his playing career he became the managing director of Hou ...

in November 1994. Leman joined the Board of

England Hockey England Hockey is the Sports governing body, national governing body for the sport of field hockey in England. There are separate governing bodies for the sport in the other parts of the United Kingdom. History and organisation England Hockey wa ...

in 2002 having served as a vice president for the previous year. He later became President of

Great Britain Hockey Field hockey in Great Britain is governed by Great Britain Hockey. The organisation focuses on international competition only. Governance GB Hockey administers the National Men's and Women's hockey teams for both Great Britain and the home nati ...

in 2007 finishing his term in 2017 following the Olympic Gold medal won by the Women's team at Rio in 2016. He was also a member of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

Executive Board from 2005 to 2016. In 2017 Leman was appointed as a Non Executive director of British Ski and Snowboard and was nominated as the representative of the BOA on the British Olympic Foundation Charity Board. He has also been involved in the running of East Grinstead Sports Club since 1988. He set up the East Grinstead Sports Club Charity in 2003 and was chairman of the board until 2010. He remains an active Trustee of the club. In his business career, he has founded several businesses in the recruitment sector and his first company, Olympian Consultancy, was listed as 8th in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 companies for 1999. In the same year, Leman won the Durlacher Executive of the Year Award, as well as runner-up in the Sussex Businessman of the Year Award. He is currently Chairman of Gold Group Recruitment, a technology and engineering recruitment firm working with companies across the globe. In addition he is Chairman of Clearwater People Solutions and Non Exec Chairman of SLC, a sports and leisure consultancy. He was appointed an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

Queen's Birthday Honours list The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are p ...

in 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leman, Richard 1959 births Living people People educated at Gresham's School English male field hockey players English Olympic competitors Olympic field hockey players for Great Britain British male field hockey players Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Field hockey players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from East Grinstead Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics East Grinstead Hockey Club players 1990 Men's Hockey World Cup players Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire