HOCKEY - Nightmare end for Black Stick's Olympic dreams

A TORN ligament has shattered Whangarei hockey star Jasmin McQuinn's dreams of participating at this year's Beijing Olympics.
McQuinn tore her anterior cruciate ligament while warming up for the Black Sticks' fourth test match against the Koreans on Tuesday and will have to go through reconstructive surgery, followed by months of rehabilitation, before she can contemplate playing again.
The 18-year-old said that a medical examination on Wednesday had confirmed her worst fears that she would miss the Olympics. She has yet to surrender all hope but with a stand-down period of three to four months expected after such an operation, she admits there is little chance of her playing any further part in the Black Sticks' Olympic campaign.
"It really rules me out of Beijing, not completely of course because it all depends on how I come back after the operation but realistically, with the amount of awesome players in the team already, it's unlikely that they'll be counting on my recovery."
McQuinn was one of the bolters into the Olympic squad announced in December but has established herself in the side since then with her ability to play in the halves and at fullback.
Black Sticks coach Kevin Towns said it was a cruel blow for McQuinn but it was also a major set-back for the team.
"It significantly cuts down our options, she was progressing very well as a left half which gave us both fullback and half cover in the squad but now we have to rethink that," he said yesterday.
Towns said he would be going back to the selectors to look at replacement options for the squad.
"It [injury] seems to plague us in our Olympic preparation, we had Ryan Archibald break his leg last time and now we have lost a very promising young player to an ACL injury, but you know it happens across all sports and it's one of those things you have to deal with," he said.
The team heads to Wellington on Monday for three tests against China and two against the Irish, before leaving for Beijing for a further five tests against the Chinese.
McQuinn said she feared the worst as soon as she fell awkwardly on Tuesday. The injury was reminiscent of another sustained in her fourth form year - when she tore the ACL on her right knee - keeping her out of hockey for the rest of the season.
"It (the last 24 hours) hasn't been one of my happiest moments but I think you've got to look at the fact that I'm young and there will be plenty of other opportunities to go to the Olympics in the future - it's not the way I want to look at it but I don't have much choice right now."
She said her teammates had been fantastic trying to keep her cheerful
"Everyone keeps calling me the bionic woman because I'm going to have both knees operated on, it's not a name anyone wants to have, I'd rather it never happened," she said.
Despite nursing her regrets she is already looking forward and is expecting to have surgery on her knee within two to three weeks.