'It's a proud moment': RAF Hockey star Sanford targeting gold medal in Paris
Royal Air Force hockey star Air Specialist 1 Liam Sanford will appear on the Olympic stage for the second time in his competitive career when he steps onto the pitch at the Yves-Du-Manoir Stadium in Paris.
Just making the Team GB squad is hard enough due to the depth of the British team, which AS1 Sanford described as a "proud moment" when he spoke to BFBS Sport at his training base at Bisham Abbey.
He said: "It's a very, very competitive team in a very competitive environment, so to book your place out to Paris and the team is a proud moment for myself and my family.
"We're obviously in the phase now of kind of building up to Paris with these last couple of days training here, so there's a few more bits to get right before we head out there."
Targeting gold in Paris
A veteran of the delayed Tokyo games in 2021, AS1 Sanford and his teammates are hoping that they can improve on their fifth-place finish, where they were knocked out in the quarterfinals by India with a 3-1 loss.
"I'm sure that there's massive belief in this team that we can go all the way," he said.
"We've not been shy about our goals for this team, and that goal is to go and win gold just like any other team.
"There are obviously other teams that are going to be trying to do the same thing, so it's going to be an interesting tournament.
"All we can do is go out and deliver out game and stick to our principles and, you know, back ourselves to be the best team."
A contrasting experience
AS1 Sanford can expect a vastly different experience in Paris in stark contrast to his first games in Tokyo, which were held under strict COVID restrictions with no spectators allowed into the venues.
"Tokyo being my first one, I was obviously super excited and then obviously Covid hit," he recalled.
"But you know it's still a great experience to go out there and obviously going into this one, the biggest thing I’m looking forward to is being able to have a crowd, being able to have my family come out there.
"It's just going to be extremely proud moment for me, you know, stepping onto that pitch with my family and my partner watching me."
Plans for the future
The end of the Games will also mark a professional as well as a personal moment for Sanford as he prepares to leave the RAF upon his return from Paris.
He is looking to continue with his competitive career with GB and England Hockey where he'll be eying a Commonwealth Games appearance in 2026 and potentially a third Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
"Yeah, that's my plan," he said.
"I haven't really thought too deep into it in terms of exactly what I want to do, I know I want to do another [Olympic] cycle.
"Whether my body holds out, I would love to come back in September and put my body in the best position it can be with also the physios and S&C [strength and conditioning] and then the plan is to go to 2028.
"Just got to see how we go, see where the coaches are at and where my body is at."
AS1 Sanford will travel with the team to Paris on 18 July where they will face Spain in their opening match on 27 July.
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