Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour has revealed to Badminton Europe that she cannot wait for the qualification for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
The 25-year old will be looking to compete in her second Olympic Games as an athlete after her first in Rio in 2016.
The back to back Scotland Open Champion will go into the qualifying having known what is to come and she wants to make sure that she is ready for the fight.
Having the experience helps!
The Scot already knows what it is like to compete in a qualifying campaign for an Olympics, but she admitted that it could be harder than the last time she experienced it.
Gilmour was fortunate with the drawing process for the Rio Olympics and she believes it can change so quickly depending on who she will play against.
- Rio was my first Olympics, and it does hit you a bit like a brick wall. There is so much that goes into it, but I think I have learnt a lot of lessons from Rio, and hopefully, I will not make the mistakes that I made, Kirst Gilmour told Badminton Europe.
- Although the qualifying year for Rio was brutal, I was able to qualify by around Christmas time and not be worrying about other player’s results, she added.
Three Olympic Games’?
The Women’s Scottish Singles player told BEC that she can’t work too hard to compete in future Olympics but certainly has her eye past Tokyo 2020.
Gilmour will compete in her second Olympic Games in 2020, should she qualify and will be looking to make it three in Paris 2024.
The 25-year old is determined to motivate herself to compete in six years’ time, although it is a long way to go until then.
- I am already one operation into my career, but I have been working very closely with the Scottish Institute of sport and my coaches, Gilmour said.
- I am the only lady singles player in Scotland on an international stage, so we need to be quite careful.
- I could be 30 at the Paris Olympics, yeah three Olympics would be cool, yeah, I think I will try and go for that! The Scot added.