Pictured: Abbie Culshaw proudly shows her silver medal to Fracture Clinic Sister Michelle Turton
A hospital worker from Darwen has skated her way to success with a silver medal at the 2018 Ice Hockey World Championships - and has her sights set on going one step further next year.
20-year-old Abbie Culshaw – who plays for Blackburn Hawks 2 – returned from the competition in Slovenia having played in all five of Team GB’s matches.
Incredibly, Abbie – who works as a Patient Services Assistant at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital – was making her first appearance for Team GB’s open age side after competing for junior international teams since the age of 13!
Speaking to the Communications Team at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust after her world championships success, Abbie said clinching silver was an amazing experience. “We played five matches in seven days and I was delighted to take part in every game. It was a fantastic experience, great to play in the national team for the first time and to win a silver medal was brilliant.”
Abbie and her Team GB teammates were competing against five rivals in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships (Division 2, Group A) – the best women ice hockey players from Netherlands, Australia, North Korea, Mexico and host country, Slovenia.
Abbie and her Team GB team-mates finished the tournament as runners-up, improving on their 3rd place finish in 2017.
“Working at the hospital, playing for Blackburn Hawks and training regularly with Team GB in Sheffield means a lot of hard work and loads of travelling,” says Abbie.
“But I love hockey and to win a World Championships silver medal on my debut makes all the effort worthwhile.”
Abbie began her ice hockey career at Blackburn Ice Rink, aged just 11. Just two years later and she was picked for the Team GB Under-18 team, competing against players up to five years older.
Next up for Abbie will be the Under-20 World Ball Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic in July.