No let-up for Gilmour as Rio looms large
KIRSTY GILMOUR admits it is impossible to banish the lure of Rio from her mind despite trying her hardest to bask in the glow of her silver medal in the European Badminton Championships.
Gilmour went down 21-12, 21-18 to title holder and double world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in Sunday’s final in La Roche sur Yon and has taken the week off to recover from her exertions and plan the next stage in her route towards the Olympic Games.
However, the 22-year-old from Glasgow, second in the Commonwealth Games and Scotland’s first winner of a silver in the Europeans, concedes that there is really no let-up this year as she bids to build on such a promising result.
“I have a rest week, so I am going to put my feet up for a couple of days, but badminton is never far from your mind, especially this year,” she said. “It’s been a long year in one sense and a short one in another.
“There’s still more to do and few more tournaments before Rio.
“It was very satisfying to win silver. Definitely one for the CV, but it’s the second time it could have been gold at a major championships following the Commonwealth Games.
“Everything at this age is a learning curve.”
Gilmour looks at Marin as someone to base her development upon as she endeavours to strengthen her armoury ahead of the Olympics.
“Caro is the same age (as me), but has a lot more experience at the top level,” she said. “It’s building blocks, but we’ll get there one day.
“I will learn from anyone who is world-class standard.”
Gilmour started slowly against Marin, who played with a protective strapping on her left shoulder, and was well-beaten in the first game. However, she recovered from 5-1 down in the second to lead 11-9 at the interval.
Marin, however, reeled off six points in a row before Gilmour closed the gap to 15-14 in a hardfought finale.