HANNAH MacLeod is aiming for gold this summer, when the limelight falls on her and 550 athletes in Team GB.

As a forward, the hockey star is used to the thrill of scoring goals and being driven. And in between her rigorous training programme, the 27-year-old has been sharing her stories of success and showing off her collection of medals to inspire young people to aim high – whether in sport or any other profession.

“The first thing I say to youngsters is it’s about being brave and giving things a go,” she said. “When I was 14, I picked up a hockey stick in class and it all went from there. I love all different sports but if I hadn’t had the courage to join a hockey club, I wouldn’t be playing international hockey.

“I had my international debut when I was 19 but wasn’t a regular player until I was 25 after I finished my studies.

“If you stick with it you can get there.”

Hannah, formerly of Argyle Road, West Ealing has temporarily moved to Maidenhead to be nearer the training ground at Bisham Abbey. She is one of just five Ealing residents hoping to make the country proud this summer.

With the support of a £12,500 grant from Ealing Council, the hockey star has been able to play full time for the past three years. And in return she has been promoting sport at schools and youth clubs in the borough.

“We do absolutely anything. I’ve worked with special educational needs students’ basketball teams, given lectures and been to youth clubs.

“I’ve actually been doing very little hockey.

“I’ve supported lots of events – people love seeing the medals and love hearing about what it’s like to be involved with the Olympics especially now it’s happening so soon.”

Hannah said she’s excited to be playing on home turf surrounded by her family for once. Proud parents Linda and Norman will be flying over from Hong Kong, while twin brother James will see her play for the very first time.

“It’s a bit strange our friends and family are coming to watch,” she said. “We very rarely play in the UK, we normally play in Argentina. They love it out there – there’ll be 16,000 people letting off flares and going crazy.

“This will be the first time all my family will be there. My twin brother has never seen me play live.

“We’re quite lucky I’ve got six tickets for every single game I’m playing.”

The team will move into the Olympic Village a week before the opening ceremony on July 27, but it won’t be her first time: “We played in front of 10,000 people at the Olympic stadium for the London Prepares Tournament and we played South Africa last week, so we’re regular visitors.

“It was really weird the first time. But it’s amazing to see how quickly it’s progressed from a building site.

“We know our pool and who we’re going to be playing now. It’s just the finishing touches. We don’t have a lot of down time at the moment. It’s everything now.”

Hannah has a degree and PhD in performance nutrition and originally planned to retire from sport after the summer games to launch her career advising athletes.

But as excitement to the games heightens, she isn’t so sure: “We didn’t realise how big the Olympics was going to be. I know I’ll be moving back to London and that’s it.”