Team GB hockey’s Giselle Ansley: ‘If we won gold in Japan I’d have to bake something related to the experience’

Ansley will be one of the GB team trying to defend their Olympic title in Tokyo this summer and tells Rachel Steinberg how she is balancing her sporting success with her passion in the kitchen

British Olympic hockey player Giselle Ansley (Getty Images)

What kind of cake do you bake to celebrate winning Olympic gold?

It’s a question Giselle Ansley might need to answer a second time if the Team GB hockey squad successfully defends their Rio 2016 title in Tokyo. The 29-year-old has always been a dab hand in the kitchen, but last year, urged on by friends and family, she decided to turn pro. In August, Ansley launched Stick or Whisk, a business named after her two greatest passions – hockey and baking.

All of the England international’s sumptuous sweets are documented on the company’s Instagram, including the cake she baked to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the ‘magical’ day Team GB women stood atop the Olympic hockey podium for the first time.