Anna Toman has already come to terms with the fact that she’ll be playing through pain at the Olympics and for the rest of her career. 

Having missed only one game in the lead-up to winning a bronze medal on debut at Tokyo 2020, Toman’s Paris 2024 cycle has been wrecked by injury.

She suffered a serious injury to her left knee in 2023, ruling her out for eight months and putting her Olympic dream in doubt.

“The injury at the time was really quite a shock,” said Toman. “I didn’t feel anything - I wasn’t in pain - but it turned out I needed an operation straight away.

“It was a really gruelling rehab and Susanna Townsend, who had the same injury after Rio 2016, told me, ‘look, it will be really hard.’ 

The injury means that pain will be a feature of the remainder of her time in the sport

“I’m now dealing with wear and tear, I put a lot of force through my left knee, and it’s not really something that’s fixable,” she explained.

“I’ve got the most amazing team behind me to help me through it and work out how we can get me as pain-free as possible, but I’m always going to be in pain.

“I never want it to stop me from playing,” she continued. “I want to be able to retire, whenever that is, on my own terms, I don’t want it to happen because of my knee.

“I only missed one game in the Tokyo cycle and this time, I wondered whether I’d ever be able to get back to the level I was at.

“It really played on my mind during rehab but I tried not to put too much pressure on myself. The team was really patient with me and I think I coped pretty well.”

Toman is one of ten in the Paris squad who helped Team GB win bronze at Tokyo 2020, the third successive Games in which they have reached the podium in women’s hockey. Six players are making their Olympic debuts.

“For the coaches to still have faith that I can do my job and be picked, it makes it even more special than it might have been,” said Toman. 

Aldi’s Nearest & Dearest programme helps maximise support and minimise potential distractions for athletes so that they can focus on their performance and make the most of the unique opportunity to compete on one of the world’s largest stages.

Paris will mean even more for Toman with mum and No.1 fan Janice able to join her in the stands and the event coming 18 months after her father Frank passed away.

“My Dad was a big sportsman and I know he would be very proud,” said Toman, whose father Frank was a talented Gaelic footballer and played in the 1977 All-Ireland final. 

“Everyone says I’m very similar to him in the way that I compose myself and the way I play, so I think because I know that, I definitely use the memory of him as motivation.”

Aldi are proud Official Partners of Team GB & ParalympicsGB, supporting all athletes through to Paris 2024