Britain beat defending champions the Netherlands to take home their first Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey, winning 2-0 in a tense shoot-out following a hard-fought 3-3 draw.

After topping the podium in Beijing and London, the Netherlands were hot favourites going into the Rio Games.

Despite winning every game to finish top of their group, however, the top-ranked Dutch team only scraped into the final after beating ninth-ranked Germany 4-3 in a shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.

Britain also finished the group stages with a perfect record and were gunning for gold in their first Olympic final having won bronze four years ago in London.

Germany beat New Zealand 2-1 to take the bronze medal.

“We’ve done it,” British midfielder Nicola White told reporters, brandishing her medal with a grin plastered across her face.

“We’ve trained for so long, this is what we’ve dreamed of and now we’ve got it.

“We’ve now gone unbeaten through an Olympic tournament, which is almost unreal... we are just over the moon.”

Of the 10 goals available in the shoot-out, only two were scored. Britain’s Helen Richardson-Walsh and Hollie Webb found the back of the net to secure victory and their team’s first Olympic gold medal.

“We played very well during the game. I think we played way better than them,” said the Netherlands’ Eva de Goede.

“But shoot-outs are fifty-fifty. They won, we lost, it’s tough.”

“Shame it’s silver,” she added, gesturing to the medal which will join the two gold ones she already has at home.

“We were really going for a third gold. But it didn’t work out.”