Matt Dawson: Australian Hockey Star Cuts Off Finger To Fulfill Paris Olympics 2024 Dream

During the Australian National Men's Hockey Team's practice session in Perth two weeks ago, Matt Dawson broke a finger on his right hand—an injury that was expected to take months to heal and end his Olympic dreams. Now, just 16 days later, he is set to play with the Kookaburras against Argentina on July 27, Saturday. How is this possible?

To compete in the Paris Olympics 2024, the 30-year-old Dawson decided to amputate his finger at the knuckle instead of waiting months for recovery, which would have meant missing the Games and having to wait another four years.

"I'm 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," he told the Parlez Vous Hockey podcast.

After the injury, which looked excruciating to him, he consulted a plastic surgeon and was told that surgery would take a long time to heal. And, even then the finger won't be able to provide much grip in holding the hockey stick as it used to. Given this, Dawson decided removing the cause from the root was the better option. Although it was a drastic decision, he wnt through the amputation that same evening.

"If taking the top of my finger was the price I had to pay, that's what I would do," he said.

Dawson's willingness to sacrifice and bear costs to pursue his dream is not new; it's a pattern he's followed since the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where a severe injury nearly took his sight away. Despite this, he continued to play and helped his team secure a gold medal. He was also a member of the Australian team that won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Dawson's sacrifice this time, shocked everyone in his team, in Australia, and in the entire world.

"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,” said the Australia hockey team captain Aran Zalewski in a news conference in Paris.

"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.”

The team's coach, Colin Batch, confirmed that Matt Dawson has returned to training and will be participating in the matches.