Gail Elizabeth Emms MBE (born 23 July 1977) is a retired English

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player who has achieved international success in doubles tournaments. A badminton player since the age of four, Emms was first chosen to represent England in 1995 and regularly played for her country until her retirement from professional sport in 2008. Her best results were winning gold at the 2006 World Championships in Madrid, 2004 European Championships in Geneva, and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, partnering Nathan Robertson in the mixed doubles. At the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

in Manchester she won a bronze medal with Joanne Goode in the women's doubles and won gold as part of the England team in the mixed team event. In the English National Championships she won the mixed doubles three times and the women's doubles twice.

Early life and career

Emms attended the Dame Alice Harpur School in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

girls' school. She and Nathan Robertson reached the semi-finals of 1994 World Junior Championships held in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. In 1998 she graduated with a

BSc (Hons) A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

from

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

. After graduating Emms became a full-time professional badminton player with the help of national lottery funded grants paid to her by UK Sport. Her father owned a building firm that collapsed in the recession of the late 1980s leading to a sudden decline in the family standard of living. Her mother, Janice Emms (née Barton), played for the unofficial

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, has been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first interna ...

. Her parents divorced while Emms was in her early teens.

2004 Athens Summer Olympics

Emms competed in

badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held at the Goudi Olympic Hall at the Goudi Olympic Complex from 14 August through 21 August. Both men and women competed in their own singles and doubles events and together they competed in a mixed do ...

in women's doubles with partner Donna Kellogg. They defeated Koon Wai Chee and Li Wing Mui of Hong Kong in the first round but were defeated by Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili of China in the second round. She also competed in mixed doubles with Robertson. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Björn Siegemund and Nicol Pitro of Germany in the second. In the quarterfinals, Emms and Robertson beat Chen Qiqiu and Zhao Tingting of China 15–8, 17–15 to advance to the semifinals. There, they beat

Jonas Rasmussen Jonas Rasmussen (born 28 October 1977 in Aarhus) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. Career With his men's doubles partner Lars Paaske he won the 2003 IBF World Championships defeating Indonesian pair Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiart ...

and Rikke Olsen of Denmark 15–6, 15–12. In the final, they lost to the Chinese pair Zhang Jun and

Gao Ling Gao Ling (; born 14 March 1979) is a Chinese former badminton player. Career Noted for her consistency, anticipation, forecourt prowess, and sporting smile, Gao is one of the most successful doubles players in the history of women's badminton ...

1–15, 15–12, 12–15 to finish with the silver medal.

2006 Commonwealth Games

The

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

brought Emms a silver in the team event, a bronze in the women's doubles (with Donna Kellogg) and a gold in the mixed doubles (with Nathan Robertson). An additional gold together with Robertson followed at the

2006 IBF World Championships The 2006 IBF World Championships, the 15th tournament of the World Badminton Championships, was held in Madrid, Spain, Madrid, the capital of Spain, from September 18 to 24, 2006. Host city selection Aarhus (Denmark) and Madrid (Spain) were the ...

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

Emms participated in the women's doubles with partner Donna Kellogg only to be knocked out in the first round by the Chinese pair Wei Yili and Zhang Yawen. Emms then went on to win her first match in the mixed doubles with Nathan Robertson against the Chinese world number 2 pair. Emms and Robertson won the first game 21–16 before Gao Ling and her new partner Zheng Bo hit back to win the second 21–16. The British duo found themselves 12–17 down in the decider only to recover to win 21–19. Emms and Robertson lost out on a medal at the quarter final stage against the world number 10 pair and eventual gold medalist Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea. Emms retired after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Later career

After 2008 Emms started a portfolio career and has engaged in badminton coaching, motivational speaking, media activities, TV commentary and product endorsements. The latter includes work for SKODA cars and Adidas. Emms has worked as a TV presenter and commentator for the BBC, Sky and BT Sport. She has delivered talks on performance, teamwork and gender issues at events held by many prominent clients including the Ashridge Business School,

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

and the

Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley region, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in South East England. It is the largest non-metropolitan police force ...

. In 2013 she was appointed to the Badminton England coaching staff with a remit to develop young female prospects and mixed doubles pairs. But loss of financial support for badminton from UK Sport in 2017 resulted in cutbacks to the coaching programmes which impacted on Emms' position. She has subsequently been critical of UK Sport's strategy in allocating funds, suggesting that its emphasis on elite level players and Olympic medal results is inappropriate. Emms has appeared on the sports-based panel show '' A Question of Sport'' and is a regular guest on '' Fighting Talk''. On 6 March 2014, she appeared on '' Sport Relief's Top Dog'' with her dog Raffa, a Westie. They won their heat, and went on to win the semi-final against Jenni Falconer on 20 March and the final, where they competed against Sally Gunnell.

Personal life

Emms was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours for services to badminton. She gave birth to her first child, Harry, in March 2010 and to her second child, Oliver, in May 2013. In 2015 she was living in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

with her partner. After retiring as a badminton player in 2008 Emms has periodically suffered from depression. She has spoken about the difficulty many professional athletes have in adjusting to life after retiring from their sport while still young. Emms is a passionate supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. She participated in the 2017

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...

half marathon in order to raise money for

SportsAid SportsAid is a UK charity that helps British athletes, typically 12-18 whose parents are their only other means of support. The charity helps these athletes by giving them cash awards to help them meet the cost of training and competing. Overview ...

, finishing in a time of 1 hour and 48 minutes.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Mixed doubles''

World Championships

''Mixed doubles''

Commonwealth Games

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

European Championships

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

World University Championships

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

World Junior Championships

''Mixed doubles''

European Junior Championships

''Girls' doubles''

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(BWF). Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year. ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Superseries Finals tournament : BWF Superseries tournament

IBF World Grand Prix

The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006. ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

IBF International

''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Record against selected opponents

Mixed doubles results with former partner Nathan Robertson against Superseries finalists, World Championships Semi-finalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.Tournamen
results
/ref> * Chen Qiqiu & Zhao Tingting 3–4 * Zhang Jun &

4–4 * Zheng Bo &

0–3 *

He Hanbin He Hanbin (; born 10 January 1986) is a retired badminton player from China. Career A doubles specialist, He won men's doubles at the Austrian International tourney with Guo Zhendong in 2007. Most of his accomplishments, however, have come ...

& Yu Yang 2–1 * Xie Zhongbo & Zhang Yawen 3–3 *

Jens Eriksen Jens Dyrløv Eriksen (born 30 December 1969) is a badminton player from Denmark. He competed in four consecutive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008, and won a mixed doubles bronze medal in 2004 partnered with Mette Schjoldager. At the World Cham ...

& Mette Schjoldager 1–2 * Joachim Fischer Nielsen & Christinna Pedersen 1–0 * Thomas Laybourn & Kamilla Rytter Juhl 4–3 *

& Rikke Olsen 4–1 * Michael Søgaard & Rikke Olsen 3–1 * Simon Archer & Joanne Goode 1–0 * Anthony Clark & Donna Kellogg 3–1 * Flandy Limpele &

Vita Marissa Vita Marissa (born 4 January 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. Career Marissa competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Nova Widianto. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Robert ...

2–1 * Nova Widianto &

2–3 * Nova Widianto &

Liliyana Natsir Liliyana Natsir (born 9 September 1985) is an Indonesian badminton player who specialized in doubles. She is one of the standout front court player, with dexterousness and skill in controlling and executing the shuttlecock. Natsir has tremendous ...

4–5 * Kim Dong-moon & Ra Kyung-min 0–5 * Lee Yong-dae & Lee Hyo-jung 1–2 * Robert Mateusiak & Nadieżda Zięba 2–1 * Fredrik Bergström & Johanna Persson 1–0 * Sudket Prapakamol & Saralee Thungthongkam 6–2

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emms, Gail 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Hitchin English female badminton players Badminton players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Badminton players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Badminton players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists in badminton Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in badminton World No. 1 badminton players People educated at Dame Alice Harpur School Members of the Order of the British Empire Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games 21st-century English sportswomen