Hockey: Pearn yearns for medal at London 2012 (From Gazette Series)

Olympic Dreams: Interview with England hockey star Mark Pearn

9:16am Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Sport

HOCKEY star Mark Pearn wants to complete his international comeback by winning a medal at the London Olympics.

The lure of the biggest sporting event in the world happening on these shores was enough for the 34-year-old from Charfield to make himself available for England and Great Britain again last year after a six-year absence.

Pearn was part of the Great Britain Olympics squads at Sydney in 2000 and Athens four years later, but believes London will be his best chance of winning a medal.

“I went to two Olympics and this is another opportunity to be successful at the Olympics,” he told the Gazette.

“Added to that it’s a home Olympics, which is a once in a lifetime thing if you’re lucky, so that opportunity was the driving force and I’m enjoying being back.

“Generally I don’t see my international career as successful.

“I want the success of playing in an Olympic final or winning an Olympic medal.

“I think the team is as strong as ever, it’s as professional as ever, and because it’s a home Olympics there has been extra funding, which has given the guys an opportunity to play at their peak.

“We’re ranked fourth in the world so the semi-final is our first aim, and from there anything can happen.

“If we don’t win a medal it won’t be through a lack of effort but because there are three better teams than us.”

Pearn retired from international duty in 2005 having won two European Championship bronze medals. He also competed at two World Cups, two Commonwealth Games and four Champions Trophy tournaments.

Great Britain finished sixth at Pearn’s first Olympics, but he is hoping to banish the memories of Athens, where they were placed a disappointing ninth.

“I really enjoyed the first one, it was competitive, and a good experience all-round,” said Pearn.

“Athens was completely opposite. We struggled, it was a different experience and everything felt disjointed.

“The Olympics is amazing, but only if you’re doing well.

“I played in another tournament after that, but I’d been doing it for ten years and I stopped enjoying it so that was a good time to stop.

“If you do something too long, it gets stale and the break helped reinvigorate my ambitions.”

Pearn made his international comeback in the Rabo Four Nations Cup last summer, where he won his 150th cap for England against the Netherlands – the same country he made his debut against in 1995.

He scored his 50th goal against Belgium, and said it was a great feeling to be playing for his country again.

Pearn won his third European Championship gold medal with England in August, although he missed most of the tournament after being injured in the first game against Ireland, and played for Great Britain at the Champions Trophy in New Zealand in December.

He has won over 200 caps altogether for Great Britain and England and, while there has been a lot hype surrounding the first Great Britain Olympic football team in 40 years at London, playing for both is nothing unusual for Pearn.

“There is not a massive change,” he said.

“In the past you would play with England for three years and Great Britain for one, but now Great Britain play together all the time, so there is much more continuity and we are much further ahead than we normally are.”