Gail Elizabeth Emms

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 23 July 1977) is a retired English

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

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 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, partnering

Nathan Robertson Nathan James Robertson (born 30 May 1977) from Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire is a retired English badminton player who has achieved international success in both the men's events and the mixed doubles event. He was educated at Dayncourt School Sp ...

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 held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester she won a bronze medal with

Joanne Goode Joanne Gwendoline "Jo" Goode MBE (née Wright; born 17 November 1972) is a former English badminton player. She represented Great Britain at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, and won the 2000 mixed doubles bronze medal with Simon Archer. 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 Dame Alice Harpur School (also known as DAHS), known from 1882 until 1946 as Bedford Girls' Modern School, was an independent girls school in Bedford, England, for girls aged 7–18. In September 2010 the junior department of the school merged wit ...

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, 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 recorde ...

girls' school. She and

reached the semi-finals of 1994 World Junior Championships held in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. In 1998 she graduated with a

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

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

from

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

. After graduating Emms became a full-time professional badminton player with the help of national lottery funded grants paid to her by

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...

. 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, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first in ...

. 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 Goudi Olympic Complex is a sports complex in Athens, Greece. It held two of the sports venues used during the 2004 Summer Olympics. Goudi Oly ...

in women's doubles with partner

Donna Kellogg Donna Victoria Kellogg, (born 20 January 1978) is an English former badminton player. She is the European Champion, winning the women's doubles titles in 2000, 2006 and the mixed doubles title in 2008. She won the silver medal at the 2006 Wo ...

. They defeated

Koon Wai Chee Koon Wai Chee Louisa () (born 26 July 1980) is a badminton player from Hong Kong. Koon competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles with partner Li Wing Mui. They were defeated by Gail Emms and Donna Kellogg of Great Brit ...

and

Li Wing Mui Li Wing Mui ( Chinese: 李詠梅; Jyutping: lei5 wing6 mui4; Pinyin: Lǐ Yǒngméi) (born 19 September 1979) is a badminton player from Hong Kong. She competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles with partner Koon Wai Che ...

of Hong Kong in the first round but were defeated by

Zhao Tingting Zhao Tingting (; born 28 November 1982) is a Chinese badminton player from Nantong, Jiangsu. Career A doubles specialist, Zhao has often been a "utility player" on China's national team, winning international tournaments with a variety of compa ...

and

Wei Yili Wei Yili (; born 24 June 1982) is a former badminton player from China. Career A women's doubles specialist, since 2001 Wei has competed on the world circuit in partnership with a variety of her fellow countrywomen, but most often with Zhang J ...

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 Björn Siegemund (born 30 September 1973) is a male badminton player from Germany. He has 2 sons and a daughter. Career Siegemund competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Nicol Pitro. They defeated Travis ...

and

Nicol Pitro Nicol Pitro (born 7 October 1975) is a female badminton player from Germany. Career Pitro competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Björn Siegemund. They defeated Travis Denney and Kate Wilson-Smith of Au ...

of Germany in the second. In the quarterfinals, Emms and Robertson beat

Chen Qiqiu Chen Qiqiu (; born January 4, 1978, in Meizhou, Guangdong, China) is a former male badminton player from the People's Republic of China. He is now a doubles coach for the Chinese national team. Career A doubles specialist who has paired with a ...

and

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 Budiarto ...

and

Rikke Olsen Rikke Olsen Siegemund (born 19 April 1975) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. She won the mixed doubles title at the World Junior Championships in 1992 and the girls' doubles title at the European Junior Championships in 1993. Born in ...

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 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

brought Emms a silver in the team event, a bronze in the women's doubles (with

) and a gold in the mixed doubles (with

). 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, the capital of Spain, from September 18 to 24, 2006. Host city selection Aarhus (Denmark) and Madrid (Spain) were the candidates fo ...

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

Emms participated in the women's doubles with partner

only to be knocked out in the first round by the Chinese pair

and

Zhang Yawen Zhang Yawen (; born 9 March 1985) is a badminton player from China. Career Zhang has specialized in women's doubles and mixed doubles, earning numerous international titles in both events. At various times she has partnered either Zhang Dan, ...

. Emms then went on to win her first match in the mixed doubles with

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 Zheng Bo (; born 26 November 1983) is a badminton player from Hunan, China. Career A doubles specialist, Zheng won men's doubles at the 2003 Indonesia Open with Sang Yang. Zheng and Sang also secured the winning point against Denmark in the ...

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 Lee Yong-dae (Hangul: 이용대; Hanja: 李龍大; ; born 11 September 1988) is a professional badminton player from South Korea who had been successful in both men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners, ...

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 Hult International Business School (also known as Hult Business School or Hult) is a private business school with campuses in Cambridge, London, San Francisco, Dubai, New York City, and Shanghai. Hult is named for the school's benefactor Berti ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

and the

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

. 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 ''Question of Sport'' (previously ''A Question of Sport'') is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It is the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December 1968, broadcast onl ...

'' and is a regular guest on ''

Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 1100 and 1200 and is based on a similar format to the ESPN show ''Around t ...

''. On 6 March 2014, she appeared on ''

Sport Relief's Top Dog ''Sport Relief's Top Dog'' is a British BBC Two game show hosted by Gaby Roslin. The first series began airing on 3 March 2014 and ended on 21 March 2014. The series consisted of 15 episodes aired over three consecutive weeks in the run up to ...

'' with her dog Raffa, a Westie. They won their heat, and went on to win the semi-final against

Jenni Falconer Jenni Falconer (born 12 February 1976) is a Scottish radio and television presenter. She appears on the ITV daytime show '' This Morning'' as a regular travel reporter and was a regular presenter of the National Lottery Draws on BBC One. She w ...

on 20 March and the final, where they competed against

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track and field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunne ...

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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2009 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2009 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

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 and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

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 Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. She participated in the 2017

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth 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 Sou ...

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 (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) 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 The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series c ...

tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

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

against Superseries finalists, World Championships Semi-finalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.Tournamen
results
/ref> *

3–4 * Zhang Jun &

4–4 *

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 in ...

& Yu Yang 2–1 *

Xie Zhongbo Xie Zhongbo (; born 22 May 1983) is a former Chinese badminton player from Hunan and raised in Sichuan. After retired from the international tournament, he works as badminton coach in Sichuan. Career A doubles specialist on the world circuit, ...

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 Champio ...

Mette Schjoldager Mette Schjoldager (born 21 April 1977) is a Danish badminton player from Viby, Roskilde Municipality, on the island of Zealand. Career Schjoldager made her debut at the Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney. Teamed-up with Ann-Lou Jørgensen, they beat ...

1–2 *

Joachim Fischer Nielsen Joachim Fischer Nielsen (born 23 November 1978) is a Danish retired badminton player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles with teammate Christinna Pedersen. He retired from the international tournament in the ...

Christinna Pedersen Christinna Pedersen (born 12 May 1986) is a Danish badminton player. Career Christinna Pedersen is a right-handed doubles specialist. From 2008 onwards, Pedersen paired with Joachim Fischer Nielsen in mixed doubles. The pair gained two Europ ...

1–0 *

Thomas Laybourn Thomas Laybourn (born 30 September 1977) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. He is a World Champion, two times European Champion and was ranked as world number 1 in the mixed doubles in January 2011. Career Laybourn won the 2006 Eur ...

Kamilla Rytter Juhl Kamilla Rytter Juhl (born 23 November 1983) is a retired Danish badminton player. Juhl is an Olympic silver medalist, World Championship gold medalist and seven times European champion as well. Career Rytter Juhl played as a left-handed doubl ...

4–3 *

4–1 *

Michael Søgaard Michael Skals Søgaard (born 4 February 1969) is a badminton player from Denmark. Career Søgaard made his debut at the national team in 1992. Since then he has won many tournaments for Denmark. Played for the Kastrup-Magleby BK, he has won ten ...

3–1 * Simon Archer &

1–0 * Anthony Clark &

3–1 *

Flandy Limpele Flandy Limpele (born 9 February 1974) is an Indonesian former badminton player and coach. He competed in four Summer Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008. Career Player A doubles specialist, at various times ...

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 Rober ...

2–1 *

Nova Widianto Andreas Nova Widianto (born 10 October 1977) is an Indonesian former badminton player. He is currently the Indonesia national team mixed doubles head coach. Career Nova Widianto is considered one of the greatest doubles player in his era. He i ...

2–3 *

Liliyana Natsir Liliyana Natsir (born 9 September 1985) is an Indonesian former 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 tre ...

4–5 *

Kim Dong-moon Kim Dong-moon (Hangul: 김동문, Hanja: 金東文; born 22 September 1975) is a retired South Korean badminton player who won major titles between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s (decade), and widely regarded as one of finest men's doubles and m ...

Ra Kyung-min Ra Kyung-min (; born 25 November 1976) is a badminton player from South Korea. Ra was a dominating mixed doubles team with her partner Kim Dong-moon from the late 1990s to early 2000s, resulting in a 70–match winning streak and 14 consecutive ...

0–5 *

& Lee Hyo-jung 1–2 *

Robert Mateusiak Robert Bogumił Mateusiak (born 13 January 1976) is a Polish retired badminton player. Career Łogosz and Mateusiak won bronze medals at the European Championships in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. Partnered with Nadieżda Zięba in the mixed ...

Nadieżda Zięba Nadieżda "Nadia" Zięba (; : Kostiuczyk; born 21 May 1984) is a Polish retired badminton player of Belarusian origin. She won the mixed doubles gold medal at the 2012 European Championships. Zięba was three times mixed doubles quarter finalis ...

2–1 * Fredrik Bergström &

Johanna Persson Johanna Sofia Elisabeth Persson (born 25 December 1978) is a former Swedish badminton player. Persson started her junior career in Täby Badmintonförening (now Göteborgs BK), and won her first national junior title in 1993 in the U-14 girls' sin ...

1–0 *

Sudket Prapakamol Sudket Prapakamol ( th, สุดเขต ประภากมล; ; born 8 February 1980) is a badminton player from Thailand. He is a police lieutenant and a sportsman like his brother. He has a Bachelor's degree from the University of the Th ...

Saralee Thungthongkam Captain Saralee Thungthongkam ( th, สราลีย์ ทุ่งทองคำ ผู้พัน หรือน.อ.ส้ม; ; born 13 June 1979) is a Thai retired badminton player. She graduated with a master's degree in Communication ...

6–2

References

External links

*
Emms's Official website

BadmintonEngland Profile
{{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 of 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 silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games 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