“It felt quite surreal” – Women’s world champion Deta Hedman receives OBE after four decades at the heart of darts

When Deta Hedman walked into St James's Palace this week to receive her OBE from Princess Anne, it marked a moment few figures in women’s darts could claim.

“It felt quite surreal,” Hedman said afterwards. “She’s so lovely. We were having a right proper laugh. She’s a sportswoman herself. So, we were having a little chat. It just felt quite surreal, to be honest. It was a little bit mind-blowing.”

Only weeks earlier, the 66-year-old had completed the final chapter of her career by winning the WDF Women's World Championship title. The honour may have been for services to darts and charity, but inside the sport, it represents recognition that has been building for decades.

Hedman has been competing at the elite level since the 1980s. She won her first WDF ranking title in 1989 and lifted the World Masters crown in both 1994 and 2013, a gap that alone tells the story of her longevity.

She competed through the height of the BDO era, through its decline, into the WDF structure and across into the modern PDC women’s landscape. Very few names in darts are recognised across all of those generations. Hers is one of them.

This is why the OBE lands with such weight for darts followers. It is not tied to a single recent result. It is an acknowledgement of a lifetime spent at the centre of the women’s game.

Hedman’s legacy in darts is not built only on titles and finals. She has also been one of the most open voices about the racism she experienced within the sport and the effect it had on her career. She has spoken publicly about the abuse she received and about periods where it contributed to her stepping away from the game.

That honesty is a significant part of why she is held in such regard. She did not simply compete for forty years. She helped change how women’s darts talks about inclusion, respect and opportunity.

Alongside that, she has long been associated with charity work supporting children with disabilities, earning her the nickname “The Heart of Darts” in WDF circles.

And throughout all of this, she worked full-time. “Most people don’t believe that I do have a full-time job and play darts,” she said in an interview with BBC Essex. “It’s just a hobby that I happen to be fairly good at, and I enjoy very much. And if you enjoy something, you will excel at it.”

A world champion who still worked for Royal Mail is not a contradiction. It is a reflection of the reality she has lived for decades in women’s darts.

Hedman has also remained a prominent and outspoken voice when it comes to protecting opportunities within the women’s category. In recent years, she has spoken firmly about fairness and the importance of ensuring that women’s darts remains a space where female players can compete on equal terms and build meaningful careers.

Those views have placed her at the centre of difficult and sometimes uncomfortable conversations within the sport. But they have also underlined why she is still such a relevant figure in 2026, not simply a respected name from the past.

Her comments this week reflect that continued focus on the future of the women’s game. “At the moment, darts is just having such a great revival and long may that continue, and more girls get into it,” she said. “But it will catch up to a much better level where girls can say, ‘right, this is my caree,r and I can make a good living’. But everything takes time.”

Those words come from someone who has lived the gap between passion and financial reality for forty years.

Born in Jamaica and arriving in the UK in 1973, Hedman built her life in Essex and built her reputation on darts stages across Europe. She stepped away from the sport at times when work and life demanded it. She returned again and again to compete at the highest level. And in December, she finally lifted the world title that had eluded her.

A few weeks later, she stood in St James’s Palace receiving an OBE. The ceremony itself may have felt light, friendly and “mind-blowing” in her own words. For darts, it felt like long overdue recognition of a pioneer whose impact on the women’s game extends far beyond trophies and into the very conversations that continue to shape it today.