WILKINSON Leah Julia

Date of Birth: 3 Dec 1986

Age: 34

Gender: Female

Height (m/ft): 1.71/5'7''

Place of birth: BURTON

Birth Country:

Great Britain

Place of residence : EPSOM

Residence Country:

Great Britain

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Hockey	Women GBR Great Britain	3

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Oi Hockey Stadium - North Pitch	Women's Pool A #W03 GBR Great Britain 1 GER Germany 2	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - North Pitch	Women's Pool A #W09 RSA South Africa 1 GBR Great Britain 4	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - South Pitch	Women's Pool A #W14 GBR Great Britain 4 IND India 1	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - South Pitch	Women's Pool A #W20 GBR Great Britain 0 NED Netherlands 1	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - North Pitch	Women's Pool A #W30 IRL Ireland 0 GBR Great Britain 2	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - North Pitch	Women's Quarter-final #W32 ESP Spain 2 (0) GBR Great Britain 2 (2)	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - North Pitch	Women's Semi-final #W35 NED Netherlands 5 GBR Great Britain 1	Finished
	Oi Hockey Stadium - North Pitch	Women's Bronze Medal Match #W37 GBR Great Britain 4 IND India 3	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

FIH Pro League

Rank	Event	Year	Location
3	Women	2020

Occupation:

Athlete, Teacher

University of Bath, Great Britain

Partner Sarah Jones

Languages spoken:

Holcombe Hockey Club [Rochester, GBR]

Mark Hager [national], AUS

Position style:

Defender (bbc.co.uk, 22 May 2014)

Sporting relatives:

Her partner Sarah Jones competed in hockey for Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018. She has also competed in the same Great Britain squad as Wilkinson. (SportsDeskOnline, 04 Dec 2020; thehockeypaper.co.uk, 29 Nov 2020)

Other sports:

She took part in county judo competitions, and has also played for Derby County Ladies football club. (WHU Media Release, 28 Sep 2010)

She sustained a foot injury in late 2020 that kept her out of action for 12 weeks. (thehockeypaper.co.uk, 29 Nov 2020)

National league:

Premier Division [ENG] (englandhockey.co.uk, 24 Oct 2020)

She began playing hockey at age five in Burton, England. She joined Belper Hockey Club at age 10. (teamgb.com, 09 Dec 2020; hockeywales.co.uk, 25 Nov 2019)

"I started to play hockey in Burton because that's where my parents played, I used to play Sunday morning hockey from the age of five while my parents and sister played too." (hockeywales.co.uk, 25 Nov 2019)

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (thehockeypaper.co.uk, 29 Nov 2020)

General Interest

General
LATE BLOOMER
She first played for Great Britain in late 2019 and did not previously think that the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo were a prospect for her due to her age. "I remember watching the last Olympic [2016] final at home on TV. It was very tense, but I think I never thought then there would be a potential for me to maybe be on the plane going to Tokyo. It felt a distant prospect. I'd had a couple of trials in the years previously and wasn't successful. I was 28 and watching that Olympics I didn't really think that I'd be involved at 32. But I never gave up total hope. I tried to be as consistent and fit as I could be, but there was probably only a little part of me that thought it could happen." (sport.wales, 21 Nov 2019)

EXTENDED SABBATICAL
She took a year off her teaching job as the head of year 10 and history teacher at Ewell Castle School in Epsom, England, to prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. When the games were postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic she was forced to ask the school for an extended sabbatical. "When I heard the Games were postponed, part of me was devastated with the fear of it not going ahead at all and uncertainty about having to go back to work. But now the new Tokyo dates are there and thanks to my school being incredible, I've got the chance to play and train full-time for another year, it's pretty great. I'm probably going to be a teacher for the next 30 years, so I'm feeling quite smug about having another year of playing the sport I love." In 2021 she decided to return to teaching one day a week alongside her training. "I did miss teaching. For me it was really important I had a rounded approach. That involves being in touch with my work and being able to use my brain in different ways away from the pitch." (thehockeypaper.co.uk, 29 Nov 2020; bbc.co.uk, 12 May 2021)

WELSH TIES
She was born in Burton, England, but chose to represent Wales due to her mother who was born in Swansea, Wales. (expressandstar.com, 26 Mar 2020; kentonline.co.uk, 11 Dec 2020)

Social Media

Legend

:: Bronze Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos