Helen Richardson-Walsh MBE

Helen Richardson-Walsh is a former Great Britain and England hockey player, Olympic gold medallist, author and trainee sport psychologist. She began her international career in 1999 at just 17 years old, and made history the following year in Sydney as the youngest woman ever to represent GB hockey at an Olympic Games.

Across an 18-year career spanning four Olympic Games, Helen earned 293 caps and 19 medals, including Olympic bronze at her home Games in London 2012, European gold in 2015, and Olympic gold in Rio 2016 – her final Games, where she was one of only two players to score during a nail-biting penalty shootout in the final, cementing her reputation as one of the best in the world in her position.

As a member of the senior leadership team for 11 years, Helen played a pivotal role in transforming the GB hockey team from inconsistent performers into consistent medal contenders on the world stage. She credits this transformation to the strength of the team's culture, an experience that sparked a deeper interest in how the right environments help people and teams flourish. That interest led her to pursue two Master's degrees, in Organisational and Sport Psychology, and she is now training as a Sport and Exercise Psychologist, applying her academic knowledge alongside lived experience to help other teams and individuals thrive – including her work with Tottenham Hotspur Women. She is also qualified to administer personality profiling tools, helping individuals build greater self-awareness and understanding of the people they work with.

Helen, together with her wife Kate, made history as the first same-sex married couple to win Olympic gold on the same team. In their book, Winning Together, the couple share powerful lessons from their journey with the Great Britain hockey team, offering practical tools to help others become their best selves and build stronger teams. Helen speaks candidly about her own experience of mental health, and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community is a passionate activist and advocate for equality and justice for all. She is a proud mum to Pfeiffer, alongside her wife Kate.

As a speaker at conferences and corporate events, Helen draws on her experience as a world-class athlete and psychologist-in-training to explore culture, leadership, team dynamics, personal growth, mental health, diversity and equality – bringing audiences insight that is both rigorously informed and deeply personal.

Winning Together: How to ‘win’ as people and teams.
The power to be a consistently high performing team lies within you and all of your people. Helen shares how an empowered team driven culture with aligned vision, values and behaviours was key to the success of both individuals and the collective team. In a team where every person had value, and an important role to play, culture was defined by the collective. She will explore the processes they went through to achieve this, alongside the psychological tools used to help increase awareness of self and others which are as valuable today as when Helen competed in the team. Through this work people were enabled to manage their state, perform consistently, and live their super strengths. Unlocking this power in your team can help you win together.

The Inner Game: Mental Tools from Elite Sport.
Having taken a penalty in an Olympic final to win gold, Helen knows exactly what it means to perform under extreme pressure. With compelling stories and evidence-based insights from sport psychology, Helen shares powerful mental strategies used by elite athletes and translates them into practical tools to help individuals and teams stay composed, adapt to challenges, and deliver when it matters most. This is a talk for anyone looking to raise their game, unlock potential, and build sustainable high performance under pressure.

Belonging Drives Performance: The Power of Inclusion in High-Pressure Environments
As one half of the first same-sex married couple to win Olympic gold, Helen shares her lived experience of inclusion at the highest level of sport. Speaking with authenticity, she explores how psychological safety and belonging unlock individual potential and team cohesion. By being able to bring her whole self to the team, Helen thrived – and so did the group. Helen offers practical insight into building inclusive cultures where people feel seen, valued, and free to perform at their best. A powerful message for leaders aiming to create environments where diversity is celebrated and performance flourishes.

Strong Enough to Struggle: Resilience and Well-being in High-Pressure Environments
Helen has spoken openly about her struggles with mental health following career-threatening injuries, bringing a powerful authenticity to this keynote. Drawing on her own journey through recovery and elite performance, she explores how true resilience isn’t about just pushing through – but about acknowledging challenges, building healthy habits, and seeking support. With practical tools and real-life insight, Helen helps leaders and teams understand how to protect well-being in high-pressure environments and foster cultures where people feel safe, supported, and able to perform at their best.

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