Gillian Margaret Clark (born 2 September 1961) is an English badminton commentator and former

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 specialized in doubles.

Career

Clark was awarded Distinguished Service Award by the

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

in 1995.

World Championships

Clark won two bronze medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

a decade apart; for women's doubles in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

, and for mixed doubles in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Olympic Games

Clark competed in badminton at the 1992 Summer Olympics in women's doubles with Julie Bradbury. In the first round they defeated Erma Sulistianingsih and Rosiana Tendean of Indonesia and in the second round Katrin Schmidt and Kerstin Ubben of Germany. In the quarterfinals they were beaten by the eventual gold medalists, Hwang Hye-young and Chung So-young of Korea, 5–15, 5–15.

All England Championship

She reached the finals of the prestigious All England Open Championships; in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

mixed doubles with Thomas Kihlström, the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

doubles with Gillian Gowers and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

the mixed with

Chris Hunt Chris Hunt is a British journalist, magazine editor, and author. Hunt has worked in journalism for over thirty years, most often writing about football or rock music. He was editor of ''Match'' from 1993 to 2001, a period that saw the weekl ...

Commonwealth Games

Clark has won twelve Commonwealth Games medals spanning four Games from 1982 until 1994. The medal breakdown was six gold medals (one with Gillian Gowers in the doubles, one with Chris Hunt in the mixed doubles and four in the team event), three silver medals all in the doubles and three bronze medals in the singles and mixed doubles.

European Championships

She won four gold medals at the biennial

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

; three consecutively (1982, 1984, and 1986) in women's doubles and one in mixed doubles (1988).

Personal life

Today Gillian Margaret Clark a.k.a. Gill Clark is known as the “voice of badminton” and she has been the lead commentator for 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) for the past 25 years. Clark as a former world No. 1 and a six-time Commonwealth Games gold medal winner has experienced making the transition to a leading badminton commentator challenging in the beginning. Gillian overcame the challenges, gradually becoming a worldwide beloved figure in the commentary booth called "oma Gill" by many. Her signature catchphrase, “I don’t believe it,” has become synonymous with extraordinary moments on the badminton court. Clark was harassed by a stalker for more than 10 years since 2001. The perpetrator was diagnosed with persistent delusional personality disorder and jailed for 2 years.

Achievements

World Championships

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

World Cup

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

Commonwealth Games

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

European Championships

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

European Junior Championships

''Girls' doubles''

IBF World Grand Prix (26 titles, 25 runners-up)

The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983. ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

IBF International

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

References

External links