Knee hampered my Rio training

Hamilton’s Kirsty Gilmour says the decision to undergo a knee cartilage operation in October was the right decision – because a scan didn’t show the true extent of the damage.

The injury was a problem for Kirsty during the Rio Olympics, and while the badminton ace says it’s not why Bulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri eliminated her in the second qualifier, it certainly didn’t help.

Kirsty said:“it was a pretty tight turnaround from having the scan, seeing the consultant and deciding to have the operation.

“[The surgeon] was really glad that we went in and did that, because the tear was bigger than the scan had showed. Better to do a tidy-up now than me really messing it up and doing a‘recon’ mission.”

As for the pain of the injury, she says:“annoying is probably a good word for it. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily painful, but it was when I straightened my leg.

“It had a big impact on me in Rio, because it was just playing on my mind. I don’t necessarily think it was the reason why I lost that match, but it was a combination and a culmination of the preparation not being great.

“I couldn’t really train past four or five out of 10 for intensity, because I knew the next day my knee would flare up, because fluid would rush in there to protect it, so I would hold back, and I wasn’t able to implement all the things that I wanted to.”

Kirsty says 2017 is a big year for her, but it’s also a case of getting back to normal and back to the level she was at before her injury.

She said:“there are a couple of landmark events that I would like to try to peak for – Europeans in April in Denmark and the World Championships here at the Emirates.

“I still feel that I have a lot of years left to play, but if I can do the best I can possibly do right now then that would be ideal. You always want to be the best that you can be.

“I’m not a very patient person who thinks‘oh give it a couple of years’– I want to be good now, I want to be the best now, so every year is a big year, they’re always big things.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to competing and travelling – I didn’t realise how much I would miss that.

“I accepted that I wouldn’t be competing for the next few months when I went in for the operation, but it’s getting to that point where I’m getting itchy feet and want to get out there.

“This is probably the longest in my professional career that I’ve not been on a plane for, so I’ve got itchy feet. I want to get going, I want to compete.

“I view tournaments as tests, or an arena to show off what you’ve been working on or how good you are, and I miss that.”