Olympics hockey star has finger amputated in order to be able to play in Paris

Australian hockey star Matt Dawson has opened up on his decision to have part of his finger amputated in order to appear for his country at the upcoming Paris Olympics .

Having already appeared for the nation at the Games on two previous occasions, the NSW Waratahs defender was not willing to allow injury curtail his chances of heading to the French capital. The Kookaburras legend broke his finger just two weeks prior to the spectacle, leaving him with some significant calls to make.

The star formed part of the team that earned a silver medal as they reached the final at the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021 as they lost out on gold to Belgium. With the opportunity of appearing at the Olympics for a third time on the table for Dawson, the 146-time Australian international eventually decided to undergo an amputation of the affected part of his finger.

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Speaking on 7NEWS via The West , he explained how he agonized over the decision to undergo the procedure, before opting to go under the knife. He said: "I made an informed decision with the plastic surgeon at the time not only for the opportunity to play in Paris but for life after as well.

"The best option was for me to take the top of my finger off. It's a bit of a change at the moment and an exciting challenge, I guess. There are plenty of other issues and other people going on with other stuff in their lives that are bigger than losing a finger, so I'm very fortunate that it's just a little bit of my finger.

Ultimately, the 30-year-old also insisted that he had to weigh up the right decision for his life following the Games as he consulted his partner over what he should do. He recalled: "It would have been a different, tough conversation if it was a bit more, I reckon. I didn't have much time to make the decision.

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"I had made the decision, and then I called my wife, and she said, 'I don't want you to make a rash decision', but I had all the information I needed to make the decision not for Paris but for life after," he continued, before vowing to rally back to full fitness, adding: "Hopefully, I can not take too long to get back to form."

His dedication has not gone unnoticed among his superiors either, with Kookaburras coach Colin Batch paying tribute to his player after he underwent the procedure. He said: "It was a nasty knock. He saw the specialist, and they could have put it in a cast, but almost the best way of recovering from it was just to chop the end of the finger off, so that's what he decided to do.

"He decided to do that, and he's back out there training now. He's certainly set the bar high for anyone getting a broken finger in the future, but full marks to Matt; he's made that decision and obviously really committed to playing in Paris."