Ellen Hoog: Hockey's Pinup Girl to Shine at Rio Olympics
By Booster Apps
(CNN) You could say Ellen Hoog is the model sportswoman. As the star of the Dutch women's field hockey side, the 29-year-old has enjoyed a near perfect career.
Hoog has been part of teams that have won the Olympics and World Cup twice plus three European Championships, while she was named the 2014 International Hockey Federation Player of the Year.
Nonostante tutti questi successi, Hoog e le sue compagne sono ancora probabilmente più conosciute per il loro aspetto che per le loro abilità con il bastone: un sondaggio online non ufficiale prima delle Olimpiadi di Londra 2012 le ha votate come la squadra più bella dei Giochi.
The news was greeted with understandable despair by gender equality campaigners, mystified as to why successful sportswomen continue to be exposed to casual sexism.
Stella olandese dell’hockey sulla strada per Rio 03:09
Hoog, however, didn't see too much of a problem.
"I think it's nice when people say we are a good-looking team, but in the end we want to win gold medals," she tells CNN's Human to Hero series.
"If that's the reason why people are going to watch more hockey then I think it's perfectly fine!
"Of course, we know that men like to watch our games maybe because of our short skirts and that kind of thing, but in Holland everyone likes to watch us because we perform very well."
Dopo la vittoria nella difesa del titolo olimpico a Londra 2012, una disinvolta Hoog e la compagna Eva de Goede sono state invitate a posare in bikini e tacchi alti per la rivista "Sports Illustrated".
"I haven't been always that confident, I'm a woman so there's always something to complain about," Hoog says.
"But at the Sport Illustrated shoot everyone was so positive and they were so nice, so I really felt confident. But of course there are days I don't feel confident about my body."
Hockey's No. 1 pinup girl is the attacking lynchpin in the Netherlands side, scoring more than 50 goals in an international career spanning 11 years.
Like its cousin played on ice, field hockey is fast-paced, fiercely competitive but with less protection worn by players. With balls being struck at around 100 mph, injuries are part and parcel of the game -- and Hoog has experienced her fair share.
"Hockey is definitely a dangerous sport. I broke my nose twice, my teeth are dead. I broke my ankle twice ... but we wear gloves and shin guards so it's OK," she says.
Overcoming physical injury sustained on the pitch has been easy compared to the mental scars left by the loss of her father to cancer when she was 18 years old.
Diagnosed in March 2005, her father was given only a few weeks to live but bravely resolved to watch his daughter make her debut at that year's European Championships in Dublin, Ireland.
"It was just in the beginning of my career, I was only in the team for one year and he said to me: 'I will make it to Dublin where you play your first big tournament,'" she recalls.
"He fought really hard and he saw us become European champions and he saw me score in the final, and he came back and one week later he passed away.
"That was a really tough moment and a tough period for me, but in the end I am very glad he made it to Dublin and he could see my play there. I think mentally it made me stronger eventually."
Questa esperienza è stata forse il catalizzatore della sua lunga carriera ai vertici dell’hockey femminile: Hoog ha raggiunto il suo 200° cap internazionale agli Europei di agosto, disputati alla Riverbank Arena di Londra.
She celebrated that day by scoring a hat-trick but there would be no fairytale ending this time around as the Netherlands lost in the final to host England after a penalty shootout.
Three years earlier, at the same venue, Hoog was the hero as she scored the deciding penalty against New Zealand in the Olympic semifinals.
The Dutch followed that up by beating Argentina 2-0 to claim gold -- a particularly satisfying result for Hoog, who had been dropped from the national team eight months before the tournament.
"The shootout competition was probably my most memorable moment on the field," she says of the 2012 semifinal. "It was scary and very impressive."
Having retained the title won at Beijing 2008, the mission now is to seal a hat-trick of titles in 10 months' time.
"I feel really excited about Rio," Hoog says. "An Olympics is very special and it's the greatest goal, so I feel excited but not in a nervous way -- I am looking forward to it. It's hopefully going to be a special year."
Se gli olandesi dovessero vincere di nuovo, potrebbe essere anche grazie al loro rituale di guardare il film romantico hollywoodiano "Le pagine della nostra vita".
"It brings luck so we always watch it before the first match of the tournament, before the semifinals and before the finals. It's terrible -- I think I've seen the movie 40 times now!" Hoog laughs.
There has been plenty to celebrate off the field recently with the publication of Hoog's first book, "In Perfect Condition," in which she shares healthy eating tips and fitness workout plans.
"Stai lontana dallo zucchero e cerca di mangiare sano," dice lei, "Se non ti piace la palestra, ci sono tantissimi esercizi che puoi fare anche a casa."
It all sounds like she has the perfect recipe for another rewarding hockey season. But will Hoog carry on playing after the Olympics, or will she start focusing on a different career?
"I like modeling," she says, "but I like hockey more."
Updated 1433 GMT (2133 HKT) October 7, 2015.
Articolo tratto da: CNN Sport
