Liam's Story
Hockey player Liam de Young has won three Olympic medals- gold in 2004, bronze in 2008 and bronze in 2012. The Queensland defender was on debut in Athens when the Kookaburras won Australia’s first Olympic men’s hockey title after 48 years of trying. With teams before them winning three silver medals, three bronze medals and finishing fourth at two previous Games, the success in Athens was an emotional affair. The team was mobbed by supporters and ex-players after its 2-1 extra-time win against the Netherlands in the final.
In Beijing, Australia- as world No1- suffered a surprise semi final loss to Spain (No4). The men bounced back to trounce The Netherlands 6-2 and take home the bronze medal.
De Young went on compete at his third Olympic Games in London with the Australians still ranked No1. After two drawn games against Great Britain and Argentina in the pool stage, the Aussies had to face defending Olympic Champions Germany in the semi-final. The Kookaburras held a 2-1 lead midway through the second half, but the Germans stormed home to win 4-2. In front of a vocal home crowd Australia defeated Great Britain 3-1 in the bronze medal match.
