Anna O’Flanagan
Hockey
BIOGRAPHY
Anna O’Flanagan represented Ireland in the women’s hockey tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where Ireland finished 10th.
The tournament marked the culmination of a journey that had long seemed out of reach – Ireland’s women’s team qualified for the Olympics for the first time in their history in November 2019, with O’Flanagan part of the squad that secured qualification in a dramatic 4-3 shootout win over Canada in front of 6,000 fans at Dublin’s Energia Park. She had previously missed out on Olympic qualification for Rio 2016, also in a shootout.
O’Flanagan attended Muckross Park College and graduated from University College Dublin with a degree in Law and Economics, going on to qualify as a solicitor with McCann FitzGerald. She took a break from her legal career in 2017 to prepare for the 2018 Women’s Hockey World Cup, during which she played for HC Bloemendaal in the Netherlands. Ireland reached the World Cup final, losing to the Netherlands to claim silver – one of the most celebrated achievements in Irish sporting history. O’Flanagan scored in both the quarter-final and semi-final of that tournament, becoming Ireland’s joint all-time leading scorer at the time. She retired from international hockey in 2024 having earned 220 caps and scored 89 international goals – Ireland’s all-time record.
OTHER HOCKEY ATHLETES
HOCKEY NEWS
Events Coming up in June 2026
Hockey IRL Men - FIH Hockey Nations Cup - South Africa - June 11 to 20 IRL Women - FIH Hockey Pro League Netherlands Stage - Rotterdam - June 13 to 18 IRL Women - FIH Hockey Pro League Germany Stage - Berlin - June 23 to 27 Swimming Sette Colli International, Rome, Italy, 26-28 [...]
LA28 Qualification Dates in 2026
ROAD TO LA ALREADY UNDERWAY! 2026 marks the beginning of the qualification journey for many sports as they look ahead to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. Qualifying for the Games, which take place from 14–30 July 2028, is challenging across all disciplines. Most sports require either direct qualification through specific events, qualification via [...]
Turning Pain into Progress: Ireland Hockey Captain Sarah Hawkshaw Reflects on Olympic Setback and World Cup Qualification Success
It is easy, sometimes, to presume that every high performance athlete who is heartbroken not to make a global tournament will be super motivated once their next goal is writ large on a white board. Yet even someone as experienced and driven as Tokyo Olympian Sarah Hawkshaw struggled when the Irish women’s hockey team didn't [...]
In the News – 9 March 2026
Hockey The Irish Men’s and women’s hockey teams qualify for the FIH World Cup, after competing in the Qualifiers tournament in Santiago, Chile. The Ireland Men’s Hockey Team closed out their FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers with a win over France to take top spot in the tournament. Having trailed by a goal, Ireland fought [...]
Sport Events Coming up in July
We are at the start of a jam packed July, check here for information on the upcoming events? DATES EVENT (SPORT) 27 June – 6 July EQUESTRIAN Team Ireland – World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen – Aachen, Germany LINK 28-29 June ATHLETICS Team Ireland – European Athletics Team Championships Division 2 – Maribor, Slovenia LINK [...]
In The News – June 16th
Men’s Hockey | Ireland Edge Belgium in FIH Pro League Thriller Ireland secured a stunning 3–2 victory over world-ranked #2 Belgium in Antwerp - their first win of the 2024/25 FIH Pro League season. Louis Rowe opened the scoring; Lee Cole struck twice with penalty corners. Jaime Carr delivered a Player of the Match performance, [...]