Hockeyroos’ Amy Lawton talks about the tough selection process on En Route to Paris podcast
On this week’s En Route to Paris podcast, Hockeyroos’ rising star Amy Lawton reveals the mental struggles of Olympic selection as she waits to find out if she makes the final 16-woman squad.
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The Hockeyroos’ place at the Paris Olympics is locked in but rising star Amy Lawton is living in a strange limbo land – wondering if she will get a plane ticket.
Lawton spoke to Rowie Webster, on the latest episode of the En Route to Paris podcast, about the tough selection process for the Hockeyroos.
The 22-year-old, hailed by now retired vertebral goalkeeper Rachael Lynch as a “generational talent”, made her Games debut in Tokyo.
Lawton is in the extended 22-woman squad but just 16 will get a ticket to Paris.
“You are always fighting for a spot against your best mates,” Lawton said.
“Selection doesn’t happen until much closer to the Games, it comes down to the wire.”
The speedy midfielder said she was so nervous for the selection announcement at the last Games she booked herself an Airbnb so she had space away from her host family in Perth.
“We had training in the morning, it was an odd type of feeling,” Lawton said.
■ Ultimate guide to the Hockeyroos in Paris 2024
“I just keep refreshing the email and as soon as I saw my name it was an amazing feeling.”
It was the height of the Covid pandemic, her family who lived in Melbourne were in lockdown. She Facetimed to tell them the news.
“I was just smiling then they started crying,” Lawton said.
Every moment of the Tokyo Games, despite her family and friends not being able to attend, is etched in Lawton’s mind forever.
Especially when she pulled on her Hockeyroos playing uniform for the first time.
Lawton desperately wants to do it all again in Paris.
Not just for herself but to help put the Hockeyroos back on the podium and start a new golden era.
The Hockeyroos made a shock quarter-final exit in Tokyo after losing 1-0 to India.
They had a great period of success early on – winning gold at the 1988, 1996 and 2000 Games – but haven’t finished on a podium since.
Lawton said her goal was to create a legacy and leave women’s hockey in a better place.
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