Madonna's Story
Madonna Blyth represented Australia in her third Olympic Games in Rio, as the most senior player on the side.
The Aussies had a tough start to their 2016 Olympic campaign, going down 2-1 against both Great Britain and the USA in their opening two pool matches. Despite this disappointment, the side went on to secure three consecutive wins against India, Argentina and Japan, leaving them to face trans-tasman rivals New Zealand in the quarter final. Hopes of a medal finish were dashed as the Aussies went down 4-2 to the Kiwis, leaving the ladies to finish in 6th place.
Madonna Blyth burst onto the hockey scene when she was 15, winning gold at the 2001 Australian Youth Olympic Festival. The Queenslander debuted with the Hockeyroos in 2004, won a gold medal with the squad at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and made her Olympic debut at the 2008 Beijing Games, where Australia placed fifth.
The Australian captain since 2009, Blyth overtook Nikki Hudson’s all-time record of 303 appearances for the team at the 2015 World League Semi Finals in Belgium. Blyth announced her retirement in November 2016, remaining Australia’s most capped female hockey player, with 342 international appearances.
The midfielder captained the squad at her second Olympics in London. Having only lost one game (by one goal) and only conceding two goals for the entire tournament (both from penalty corners), the Aussie women missed out on the medal rounds on a goal difference of one goal and finished in fifth.
Rated as one of the best players of her generation, the Brisbane-born athlete has been named in the World All Stars team on three occasions (2007, 2009 and 2010) and was crowned the Hockeyroos Player of the Year in 2013.
