England & Great Britain veteran Emily Gray will compete at her third The World Games when she takes to the field tomorrow morning in Chengdu, China but the feeling of competing for her nation never gets old.
“The thing I'm looking forward to the most about Chengdu and The World Games is the multi-sport event and to showcase lacrosse being a new and big sport in LA 2028.”
Great Britain will take on China, Canada, and Japan in Group A over the next three days before placement and medal matches on Sunday and Monday and Gray believes the squad is suitably prepared.
“We toured Japan which was a great test for us as a squad,” Gray told the British Lacrosse Instagram channel, “and we took our reserves as well, which was an exciting opportunity for us to get lots of matches under our belt in preparation, and for us to be able to practice everything we've worked on tactically. I think that was a great chance for us to test ourselves against some of the top teams in Japan and against their national side.”
The 35-year-old, who made her England senior debut against Japan in 2008, is now a part of the Great Britain leadership team and the two-time World Championship bronze medallist never takes that sort of recognition for granted.
“It’s been a highlight. It's been exciting to lead the squad in different matches but also everyone really just comes together against all the different nations and we really feel like we're together as one team.”
In terms of role models and inspirations, Gray doesn’t look further than one of the stars of the London 2012 Olympic Games Jessica Ennis-Hill.
“Somebody I'd say I probably look up to is somebody like Jess Ennis-Hill. I think she's an inspirational role model to a lot of people and I think that just shows that she's very dedicated, committed, and puts in a lot of work behind the scenes that probably you don't necessarily know or see as an athlete and especially as an individual one. I think that's admirable to see that - it's solely on her, everything that she has achieved, she's given everything.”
Gray and Great Britain begin their The World Games campaign at 7:30am (UK) on 7 August in Chengdu against hosts China in Group A.
For more information about the competition, click HERE.