'Like DiCaprio getting his Oscar' - Gilmour finally wins European gold
Having had to settle for silver five times at the European Badminton Championships, Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour finally wins gold.
Kirsty Gilmour added European gold to her collection of five silver and a bronze [Getty Images] Having had to settle for silver five times at the European Badminton Championships, Kirsty Gilmour finally won gold in Huelva, Spain, on Sunday. And the 32-year-old Scot did it just five weeks after suffering a torn calf muscle. In the final, Gilmour beat Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark 21-17, 21-15 after being runner-up in 2016, 2017, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
There was also a bronze in 2021. On her making her return from injury, she told BBC Scotland: "I was off my feet for two or three weeks and slowly getting back on court. "I didn't play any practice points until the Sunday and the tournament started on Wednesday.
"I was just relying on the experience I've put behind me in the past 25 years and I knew if I played decent badminton that I could do it. It was a nerve-holding exercise in part. "There's no such thing as perfect preparation, so much of a championship like this is a mental game.
" Gilmour was the fifth seed in Huelva and upset top-ranked Kjaersfeldt to take the title. "I was really not scared to get another silver," she explained. "If that was going to be my story, I was totally fine.