Who is Sam Quek and who is her husband? Team GB hockey star and BBC pundit who won Olympic gold
SAM QUEK’S starring role in Team GB’s hockey gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics five years ago catapulted her into the spotlight.
The historic achievement earned her an MBE and after starting a media career she is now one of the BBC’s pundits for the Tokyo Games.
Where is Sam Quek from and how old is she?
Sam was born in the Wirral on Merseyside on October 18, 1988.
The 33-year-old attended Birkenhead High School and Calday Grange Grammar School.
She decided that she wanted to stay fairly close to home and studied a BSc in Sport and Exercise at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2010.
She won her first international cap while studying at university.
The hockey star is also a loyal supporter of Liverpool F.C. and considers former Liverpool striker Ian Rush as one of her heroes.
What happened at the Rio Olympics 2016?
Sam missed out on being part of Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics but competed for England at the 2013 EuroHockey tournament and 2014 Commonwealth Games, which she won silver medals at.
She won the gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics after the GB hockey team beat the Netherlands on penalties.
This was the first time that women’s hockey had won a gold at the Olympics for Great Britain.
Is Sam Quek married and does she have kids?
The sexy sportswoman is currently married to Tom Mairs, 33, who supported his then girlfriend at Rio while wearing a Union Jack suit, and shared a sweet kiss with her as she exited the jungle.
Speaking at the Games, he said: “She’s this normal girl, she’s not a diva,” he said. “She’s really determined and dreams big.”
The couple had their first baby Molly in March 2021 and Quek shared an incredible picture of the tot with her Rio gold medal.
What else has Sam Quek done?
Sam also has experience modelling, and followed on from her I’m A Celebrity stint with a glitzy gym wear shoot for Littlewoods.
Ahead of her time in the jungle a source told The Sun: “She’s got a bit of experience as a swimwear model too so it goes without saying that they hope that will result in some waterfall scenes that the show is so famous for.”
She also features on sports comedy panel game show by Play to the Whistle, hosted by Holly Willoughby.
The This Morning host described it to Radio Times as: “It’s a comedy entertainment show loosely pegged on sport, I think that is the best way to sum it up.”
Bradley Walsh and footballer Frank Lampard are team captains – with Romesh Ranganathan working as a sidekick to Frank.
Back in 2017 she revealed she has now become a target of repeated break-ins at her Merseyside home
How has she been targeted by criminals at her home?
Quek said she had fallen victim to burglars several times over the last year, with thieves targeting her car and home on the Wirral, Liverpool.
But she claimed her new security cameras had caught a “scumbag” in the act during the latest raid, releasing footage of the incident on the web.
The clip shows a man walking into her driveway in the dead of night before trying the handle on one of the cars parked there.
She wrote: “Right Facebook I need your help!
“My car and home have been broken into many times in the last year.
“On a number of occasions we have woken up to our side gate open, both cars left open and contents taken.
“Last night my new CCTV finally caught the scumbag who keeps doing it!
“After a big home burglary last year it’s quite frightening to know someone keeps coming to our home late at night, peers into my window and trying the doors to my cars and home.
“So do you know this man on #Wirral?
“Please share my post and let the power of social media catch him.”