Kirsty Gilmour has the words ‘make good choices’ tattooed on her wrist but a fortnight ago she wasn’t sure whether coming to the Commonwealth Games would be one of those.

The Scottish badminton star had CT scans on her spine two weeks before she carried the flag at the opening ceremony in Birmingham after a training injury caused swelling in her facet joints.

Gilmour was diagnosed with spondylosis, a type of arthritis in the back, or as she described it “old sports spine” but after plenty of physio went on to take fourth place in the women’s singles.

Gilmour lost a titanic semi-final tussle with Canada’s Michelle Li, who beat her in the Glasgow 2014 final, 23-21 21-23 18-21 before missing out on bronze with a 14-21 20-22 defeat to Singapore’s Jia Min Yeo.

She said: “Before the Games I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know I was getting scans.

“So, to come here and get to a good level and put in good performances is great as I didn’t think I would even make these Games.

“In the first week it impacted me quite a bit but this week and the last two days I don’t want to use that as an excuse at all. I was playing good badminton and got my back to a good place.

“I guess I might look back on it and be happy but right now it’s hard.”

This summer, Team Scotland, supported by funding raised by National Lottery players, compromises of over 250 athletes, all vying for medal success.

Gilmour debuted for Team Scotland at Delhi 2010 before winning silver at home four years later and taking bronze on the Gold Coast.

Although her results are heading in a downward direction, Gilmour insists she is in the form or her life it’s just the standard on show at the Games has rocketed.

She added: “I don’t want anyone to think [I’m getting worse] with my Games going silver, bronze, fourth.  

“I’m playing the best I’ve ever played. It’s just a testament to the level of ladies’ singles at this current moment which is huge. 

“Anyone of these games could’ve gone another way on another day. I was just the unlucky one in a lot of ways on the last day.”

Gilmour may have missed out on the podium, but she insisted she will be at Victoria 2026 for her fifth Games.

However, in the short-term she will switch her attention to the upcoming World Championships with the aim of claiming a medal that is still to elude her grasp.

She explained: “There’s been ups and downs but it’s always just a flipping pleasure to be part of Team Scotland.

“I love being part of this team, I’m shooting for number five, why not? If I’ve got anything to do with it, I’ll be there.

“Within about 10 days we will be in Tokyo for a World Championships which is a medal I don’t have, so I’m going to thoroughly recover and get ready for that.”

Meeting expectations never hurt so much for mixed doubles pair Adam Hall and Julie Macpherson after they too missed out on bronze.

Hall and Macpherson were swept aside 14-21 7-21 by English couple, on and off the court, Marcus Ellis, and Lauren Smith before succumbing 15-21 17-21 to Malaysia’s No.1 seeds and world No.9 pair Kian Meng Tang and Pei Jing Lai.

Hall said: “We were the fourth ranked team, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but it doesn’t take away how much it hurts. We gave it everything.

“Of course, we wanted to go further but we met expectations and I’m sure in a couple of weeks’ time we will be very happy with this.”

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