Distinguished alumni
Laura Unsworth MBE
BSc Accounting and Financial Management 2013
Team GB Hockey Player
Laura was recognised for her contribution and achievement in both university and world-class sport with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016.
Laura took up hockey aged 11 in Sutton Coldfield where she grew up. As a talented sportswoman, Laura enrolled at Loughborough University in 2006 where she studied Accounting and Financial Management within the School of Business and Economics. After inclusion into the Great Britain side whilst in her third year, Laura put her studies on hold with the support of the University in order to prepare for the 2010 World Cup and 2012 Olympics.
Spending three years in the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre where Women’s Hockey and Team GB Hockey are based, Laura was part of the team that came third in the 2010 World Cup and then went on to win bronze two years later at the London Olympics, exactly 20 years after the last Women’s Hockey medal in Barcelona 1992. Following this outstanding achievement, Laura came back to Loughborough to complete her degree in 2013.
Following her graduation, Laura continued training and competing with the England Team and Great Britain with an eye to the Rio Games in 2016, whilst also participating in local charity activities.
Determined to better the team’s success at London, Laura and Team GB went on to take gold in the thrilling final against the Netherlands in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Adding to her Olympic successes, Laura has also won gold at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as well as silver and bronze in the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games; she was also part of the European Championships gold medal-winning team in 2015.
In 2017, as part of the Queen’s Honours List, Laura and her fellow teammates were each awarded an MBE for services to British sport.
She since returned to Bisham Abbey, focused on training for the World Cup and 2020 Toyko Olympic Games.