England’s Kate Richardson-Walsh on marrying her team-mate

“It helps when your partner understands hockey and what it takes to play at that level – to know that when you’re going off training again, getting up at a stupid time, or only talking about hockey, it’s because you love it.”

Kate is now set to retire from the international scene – she will don an England shirt for the last time this summer, looking for the major title that has so far eluded her.

“This is my last season playing in the international team and this potentially could have been the last tournament Helen and I played together, if she’d been selected,” she says.

“All of those things make it harder. My emotions are heightened because it is my last season. They say you kind of just know, and I know it is time.”

On her blog, Helen wrote: “There’s nothing more I would like to see than my wife, Kate, lift the World Cup.

“Of course, I wanted to be by her side when she did, but we’ve both shared so many highs and lows, and she truly would be worthy of this success.”

Watch Kate Richardson-Walsh’s full interview with Gabby Logan on Inspire: The Olympic Journey, Sunday, 8 June, BBC Two, 17:30 BST.