Luciana Aymar

Luciana Aymar grew up in Rosario, Argentina, playing hockey at a local club from the age of seven. She was thin and often ill as a child, and coaches doubted she was strong enough for international sport. She was left out of the youth national team more than once and considered giving up. At 20 she made the senior squad, and by the end of her career people in the sport were calling her the best there had ever been.

She played in midfield with a dribbling style that made defenders look slow, and was the centre of Las Leonas, the Argentine women's team that became a national institution. She won the World Cup in 2002 and 2010 and the Champions Trophy six times. Between 2001 and 2013 she was named the world player of the year eight times, more than anyone else in the history of the sport.

The Olympics were the exception. She won silver in Sydney in 2000 and bronze in Athens, Beijing and London, each time coming into the tournament as a favourite and each time falling just short. She has said the gold that never came was the disappointment she carried longest.

She retired in 2014 after winning the Champions Trophy in front of a home crowd in Mendoza.