Surgeons at the Royal London Hospital have this week played a crucial role in keeping alive the Olympic hopes of Team GB’s Captain Courageous.

Kate Walsh, captain of the women’s hockey team, was taken into the hospital on Whitechapel Road after she had broke her jaw in the closing stages of the team’s 4-0 victory over Japan on Sunday.

She was accidentally hit on the left side of her jaw by a stick while making a tackle four minutes from the end of the match at the Olympic Park.

In a an operation on Monday a metal plate was put into her face and she has stated she wants to continue playing during the Olympics. The hospital also said, in a statement, that she could yet make a “heroic” return to the Olympics.

Her statements prompted a number of national newspapers to pose the question whether she is the bravest athlete at the Games.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said: “Britain women’s hockey captain Kate Walsh is recovering from surgery on a fractured jaw at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

But could yet make a heroic return to the Olympics.”