Kate Louise Richardson-Walsh (née Walsh; born 9 May 1980) is an Olympic Gold and Bronze Medal winning English field hockey player.

[7] Richardson-Walsh made both her England and Great Britain debuts in 1999 and has since gone on to play at the full range of international tournaments including four Summer Olympics, four Hockey World Cups and four Commonwealth Games.

As a defender she won a silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in her hometown of Manchester, and bronze at the 2007 EuroHockey Nations Championships.

However, after undergoing surgery and missing just three matches, she returned to play in their penultimate group game against China and captained the team to win the bronze medal.

[2] Following the 2014 Glasgow games, Richardson-Walsh took a three-month sabbatical from international hockey, before returning at the end of the year and regaining her place in the team (and captaincy) via the development squad.

[13] After 375 appearances for her country, 19 medals, 49 goals and 13 years as GB and England Captain, Richardson-Walsh confirmed her retirement from International hockey after the Rio Olympic Games.

In 2016 Richardson-Walsh announced that she, and her wife Helen, would leave Reading Hockey Club to join HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands after the Olympics.

[15] Both Kate and Helen returned to the UK in June 2016 after one season with the club and helping HC Bloemendaal retain their Hoofdklasse status.

[18] In July 2018 it was announced that Richardson-Walsh had been appointed as joint Head Coach for Hampstead & Westminster Ladies XI[19] Kate is an athlete ambassador for sports website platform Pitchero[20] and endorses Osaka hockey sticks.

[22][23] Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh made history becoming the first same-sex married couple to win an Olympic Gold medal together.

Brunel University presented alumna Richardson-Walsh with an Honorary Doctorate in July 2017, recognising her service to the national or international community.