Olympic bronze medallist, world and Commonwealth silver medallist and European champion over 400m hurdles and 4x400m chats to AW on her career reflections and retirement plans

When Eilidh Doyle – the most successful Scottish athlete in history – hung up her spikes this month at the age of 34 she was met with numerous messages of support and thanks from team-mates, coaches and fans.

“I was thinking about what I would say for a while as I wanted it to be very personal and I wanted to be the person to put it out there as well. I’d spoken to both British Athletics and Scottish Athletics just to give them the heads up and was preparing to take the dog for a walk in the morning but wasn’t organised to get ready,” she tells AW.

“As I was about to leave my phone just blew up with all of these messages and it was just so lovely, in particular from the comments and messages from fellow team-mates and I was quite overwhelmed from the reaction. People were saying you’ve had an impact on their lives and you just don’t know because you’re getting on with your own sport.”

It was a retirement plan a few years in the making.

It's the end of an amazing career for @EilidhDoyle as she announces her retirement.

Doyle won 4x400m bronze at the 2016 Olympics, has two world silvers from 2013 and 2017, three 400mH Commonwealth silvers and became European champion in both the 400mH and 4x400m ? pic.twitter.com/e6Ckm8lMlU

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) June 2, 2021

In 2019, Doyle gave birth to son Campbell and took a long break from competing for the first time in her career. The goal was to come back and retire after Tokyo but due to the pandemic she made the decision, along with husband and coach Brian, not to attempt to make a third Olympics.

“I mentioned to him [Brian] that I’d be really content retiring [after Gold Coast 2018]. I was really happy with my career and that’d be a nice way to go out,” Doyle says. “I think once you mention retirement and it’s in your consciousness, then you’re starting to think about what I’m doing after the sport and I’m not running anymore. It’s probably been in my head since then.”

“I then did the Europeans [Indoor Championships] in Glasgow so it went on a bit longer. But this last year, and the uncertainty around everything, meant my motivation was up and down. The love of training was still there but travelling around the circuit just wasn’t there anymore, maybe because I am a mum now and Tokyo wouldn’t be the same.

“It was one day at training where I was thinking ‘why am I doing this anymore?’ So I had a conversation with Brian and we thought it was the best thing to step away.”

Doyle is winner of 17 major medals and holder of four Scottish records. She is Scottish record-holder for the 400m hurdles (54.09 in Monaco in July 2016) and holds the Scottish indoor record for 400m (51.45 in Gothenburg in February 2013).

This week, for the first time, she collated all her medals together and reflected on those moments which stand out to her.

“All these medals that I’ve won just kind of tell the story of my career. The first one I won was at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and all my memories of Delhi come flooding back. Then I look at my European gold from Zurich in 2014 and I remember crying on the podium as I’d felt relieved that I’ve done it but I haven’t been able to reflect like that that until now,” she adds.

Regardless of the medals, you can tell the relationships and friendships she has made in athletics mean a great deal to Doyle, more specifically those who provided invaluable guidance when she first started out at international level.

“The medals are nice and they are things you can look back on but it’s the memories, the people you meet and the things you learn from other athletes. I remember Lee McConnell and Christine Ohuruogu taking me under their wing in how to conduct myself and behave. If there was anybody on their own I always used to ask how they were getting on as you can sometimes feel a little bit intimidated when you’re first joining a team,” Doyle says.

“It’s one thing I put to my mum and dad, you know they were never really that bothered about how successful I was, it was more being proud of me in conducting myself with sportsmanship, to congratulate, say well done and good luck after races.”

It’s not surprising to hear given Doyle used to live in a sporty family. Her mum swam for Scotland, her brother played football and her older sister competed in athletics and was a member of Pitreavie AAC.

Doyle grew up in a football orientated family and laughs at the mention of her parents taking their honeymoon at Tynecastle Park, the home of Hearts. Like her mum, she competed in swimming, and won the U13 Scottish Schools Butterfly title, but was also keen to try out athletics alongside her older sister.

As they say, the rest is history.

“My big sister had run a cross country for her primary school and she won. Everybody was totally shocked and she was approached to join an athletics club. So she went along and I joined her to keep her company but but wasn’t until about 14/15, when I was still doing swimming, where I was putting less effort into athletics and getting success unlike swimming,” the Scot recalls. 

“I was more long distance and did quite a few 800s and sprint hurdles and I was good but never the best. I’d be on the podium but it was when I got to about 17 my coach told me to try out for the 300m hurdles and then for the next two years I was unbeaten at that event. I thought ‘right, I’ve found my event’. I think what drew me to athletics is that I enjoy training with people who were my mates so the social side was there and I then got that success.”

Her upbringing moulded Doyle into somebody who knew of leadership values and later on in her career the Scot was chosen to captain Great Britain at London 2017 and be the flag bearer for Scotland at Gold Coast 2018.

“I remember that not even being on my radar at all but then one morning I got the call to say that I was team captain and the fact that my peers voted for me was the highest honour I could have ever had. The same goes for carrying the flag for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2018,” she says.

“My mum told me that the highlight for her out of my career was when I carried that flag. They are the moments you don’t really think about when you’re younger and want to be an athlete unlike winning medals and going to championships, but they are really special and they’re great moments for me.”

What next for Doyle now?

She wants to take time to step away and reflect on her career before making a decision but is keen to be proactive in figuring out where she’ll best fit.

The Scot is already on the board of Scottish Athletics and a trustee of Athletics Trust Scotland but doesn’t rule out a long-term goal of making an impact outside of athletics.

“There’s no real urgency so it’s a case of just finding my feet but I want to be proactive and involved in sport. I don’t know whether that will be athletics. I did a little bit of work for Education Scotland, Scottish Athletics and Sport Scotland when I was out pregnant in 2019 so that shows that I still have an involvement in sport,” Doyle adds.

“It’s only fair that I try and give something back to a sport which gave me so much.”