Crista Cullen is recognised as one of the leading hockey defenders in the world.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Final saw Crista win a Gold medal with the Team GB hockey squad and her 197th Great Britain and England combined cap.
A winner of Commonwealth, World Cup and European Cup Bronze medals, the Rio 2016 Olympic Gold is to date the highlight of a career that has also seen Crista awarded the following:
- Great Britain’s Hockey Player of the Year in 2006
- Featured in the International Hockey Federation’s World All Stars Team (3 times)
- Hockey Writers’ Club Player of the Year (2005 and 2007)
- Awarded the Freedom of the City of London 2012
Crista was Team GB’s top goal scorer in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and joint top goal scorer at the London 2012 Games.
Born in Lincolnshire, Crista spent her early years living in Kenya, before attending Oakham School, in Rutland and later gaining a Business Studies Degree at Nottingham Trent University.
Despite announcing her retirement from Hockey post London 2012, in 2015 she was invited back to fight for a place in the Rio Olympic Games squad and her subsequent ambitions for a third Olympic appearance were not only realised, but brought Olympic Gold in the most dramatic of Finals.
Throughout her entire hockey career Crista has been a member and an integral part of the Leicester Hockey Club.
As a motivational speaker, Crista Cullen is charismatic, inspirational and articulate in her delivery.
Her focus in all speeches is clear, understanding the needs of the individual and the team and translating her experiences to that environment to show that anything is possible with the right focus and determination.
