Australian hockey star amputates finger for 2024 Olympics

An Australian field hockey player identified as Matt Dawson has decided to remove a finger on his right hand after getting injured during a team training in Perth two weeks ago.

Dawson’s decision was aimed at ensuring he competes at the 2024 Paris Olympics in France, BBC reports Friday.

The 30-year-old hockey player narrated that he passed out when he saw his finger in the changing room, thinking his Olympic dream was over.

Thereafter, he met with a plastic surgeon who told him that the finger may not function well after surgery – even which will take a long recovery time. However, with the option to amputate it, he could be back playing in 10 days.

Dawson’s decision to take part in his third Games comes after joining the team to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“I am definitely closer to the end of my career than the start and, who knows, this could be my last [Olympics], and if I felt that I could still perform at my best then that’s what I was going to do.

“If taking the top of my finger was the price I had to pay, that’s what I would do,” he told the Parlez Vous Hockey podcast.

He will take to the field with the Kookaburras as they face Argentina on Saturday, just 16 days after he was injured, the report noted.

Team captain Aran Zalewski said at a news conference in Paris, “We didn’t really know what to think, and then we heard that he went to the hospital and chopped his finger off, which was pretty interesting because I know people would give an arm and a leg and even a little bit of finger to be here sometimes.

“When you’ve spent a lifetime of choice and sacrifice to come and compete at the highest level, I think for him it was an easy decision.”

Earlier this week Kookaburras coach Colin Batch said Dawson was back training with the team.

“Full marks to Matt. Obviously, he’s committed to playing in Paris. I’m not sure I would have done it, but he’s done it, so great,” Batch told Australia’s Seven News Network.

The report added that this isn’t the first time Dawson has faced an extreme injury. He nearly lost an eye after being hit by a hockey stick in the lead-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.