Belgian Red Lion John-John Dohmen retires
John-John Dohmen has announced his retirement from the Belgian Red Lions, the country’s hockey squad.
The 36-year-old Dohmen first represented Belgium in 2007 and was part of what is considered a golden generation of Belgian hockey players. Over his 17-year international career, he laced his hockey boots up a dizzying record number of 481 times, scoring 63 goals.
Together with the golden generation, he helped Belgium become world champions in 2018, and Olympic champions in 2021. Naturally, he thanked his teammates in his retirement announcement, underscoring that he considers himself “extremely lucky to have been part of the Red Lions and to have known the rise of my team towards an Olympic gold medal.”
In the same breath, he reflected on past and future generations of hockey players, thanking those who came before him for their “many sacrifices” and musing that “a winner is a loser who never gives up.”
While he is retiring from the international scene, he still “continue the conquering quest” with KHC Dragons, a hockey team based in Brasschaat, in the province of Antwerp.
His departure makes way for fresh Belgian talent as the Red Lions start to look towards the broad horizon of Los Angeles in 2028.
Congratulations to John-John for his part in the success story of a golden generation of Red Lions.