TOWNSEND Susannah

General
RETIREMENT THOUGHTS
In May 2020 she said the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo had not affected her plan to retire after the Games. "The past few months have been a bit of a rollercoaster. At the beginning we didn't know if the Olympics was going to be cancelled or postponed or quite what was going to happen. When you are waiting to find out you train hard, you are optimistic but also realistic, you know it's probably not going to happen. I had always said I was definitely going to retire in August, but my plan now is to retire after the Olympics next summer. I feel like this delay has almost given me a chance to be a better player. If you ask anyone who is close to retiring, when you can see the end you can put yourself through more pain than you could have before. I am starting to feel that it is going to hurt, but I can do this because I can touch the end." (bbc.co.uk, 19 May 2020)

DISSERTATION TO OLYMPIC GLORY
After missing out on selection for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she says she overcame the disappointment by writing her university dissertation on the emotional impact of the experience. "Sometimes people look at me and think I look very relaxed, and take that the wrong way. I've never liked talking about how I feel. I originally found it hard to do. I didn't know what to say. Although it was a massive knock to miss London, it never stopped me believing that I would make it [to the Olympic Games]." She was selected for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro where she won gold with Great Britain. "My gold in Rio has been my highlight of my career and still inspires me to do better." (thetimes.co.uk, 23 Jun 2019; telegraph.co.uk, 16 May 2019, 28 May 2014; rememberthename.co.uk, 10 Dec 2012; bbc.co.uk, 04 Dec 2012)

COACHING
She and her partner, English rugby union player Fiona Pocock, run Townsend and Pocock Hockey Camps in England. The training camps offer hockey coaching and fitness sessions. (Twitter profile, 17 Jan 2020; investec.com, 14 Apr 2019)

FURTHER EDUCATION
In 2016 she began studying for a master's degree in sports journalism at St Mary's University in London, England, to prepare for a career after hockey. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Sep 2018)