Five times before today, Kirsty Gilmour had reached a European Championships final, and five times she had left the court with a silver medal around her neck.

Last year, it was Line Kjærsfeldt who claimed gold against Gilmour in the final. This year, Kjærsfeldt was once again standing on the other side of the net, but this time, the outcome was different.

Heading into the tournament, however, it did not seem likely that this would be Gilmour’s year. Just a month and a half ago, she was forced to withdraw from the German Open with a calf injury. Since then, she had not competed, and her match preparation had been very limited. As a result, even she was unsure of what to expect from the week.

Gilmour said before the tournament:
"I think I am just relaxed about it this year. I always want to win gold, but I don’t know if I am in the best condition this year. We will find out, but at this point I am just going to take it as it comes."

Throughout the tournament, she had plenty of opportunities to test her fitness. In both the quarter-final against Line Christophersen and the semi-final against Neslihan Arin, Gilmour had to go the distance in three games to secure her place in the next round.

In the final, she managed it in two games, but it was still a hard-fought match lasting 47 minutes, ending 21-17 21-15. When the final shuttle hit the ground, so did Gilmour, in a deeply emotional moment for the experienced Scot.

After the match, a visibly moved Gilmour soaked in the applause from the crowd. It was also a special moment as she received the winner’s trophy from Carolina Marín, the very player who had denied her European titles on several previous occasions.

Gilmour said:
"I think that all of the other championships have have led to today. I have been thinking a lot recently about careers and the stories they tell, and whether I would always be the one who got the silver medal. If that was my story, then that was my story. But I think not being afraid of getting a silver medal today was really the key."

Although she had come to terms with the possibility of another silver, she was delighted that her story would now be different.

"This is a much, much better story, one that I will be telling my grandkids about."

This marks Gilmour’s first European Championships gold medal, adding to her collection of five silvers and one bronze.

Congratulations to Kirsty Gilmour and Badminton Scotland.