Mariah Williams' injury-riddled journey to a second Olympics
Published Sun 25 Jul 2021
Hockeyroo and Wiradjuri woman, Mariah Williams is competing in Tokyo after a tumultuous few years, battling injury after injury.
Her journey to Olympic glory is one of great resilience, with the 26-year-old spending almost as much time undergoing surgery and rehab, as she has had playing at international level.
Growing up in Parkes in the Central West region of NSW, Williams, who was born without one of the ligaments in her knee, never let this stop her from getting involved in an array of sports.
She first picked up a hockey stick when she was four years old, but also dabbled in football (soccer) and touch footy until a school visit from triple Olympian and Kookaburra, Stephen Davies, inspired Williams to commit to hockey and chase the Olympic dream.
By the time she was 13 years old, she was scouted as impressive talent and began climbing the junior representative ranks before moving to Newcastle to attend Hunter Sports High School to hone her craft.
