Gillian Gilks
Gillian M. Gilks is an English former badminton player who won numerous major titles in all three events between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s. Gilks was the first ever women's singles world number one in the first IBF world ranking release in 1978.
Biography
Tall and slender in her badminton prime, with elegant, accurate strokes, Gilks is the most successful player ever in the European Badminton Championships with 12 titles, two of them in women's singles, four in women's doubles and six in mixed doubles. She is also one of the most successful players in the long history of the All England Open Championships with eleven titles; two in women's singles, three in women's doubles, and six in mixed doubles. In 1976 she won all three events at the All Englands making her the last person to "sweep the board" there in a single year. She also won a Gold and bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics when badminton was played as a demonstration sport. In 1999 she was inducted into the World Badminton Hall of Fame.She represented the England team at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she competed in the badminton events, winning three silver medals.
Shortly after the Games, she married 29 year old Michael Gilks of Newcastle Lyme, an umpire of the Badminton Association of England, and electrical engineer, on 26 September 1970 in Epsom, and moved to Kings Heath.
She was awarded the MBE in the 1976 New Year Honours.
She moved to Steyning in 1976.
Achievements
Olympic Games (demonstration)
Women's singles| Year | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Volleyballhalle, Munich, West Germany |  World ChampionshipsWomen's singles
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