Sign up to badminton.tv now and get access to all content, or learn more.
Sign up to badminton.tv now and get access to all content, or learn more.
My Diary
by Gail Emms
Categories
Archives
Search
Links
Saturday 19th May Ed and I went to a wedding reception in Reading in the evening. It was an ex colleague of Ed’s and we stayed at his friend Ben and his girlfriend Rachel’s house who lived nearby. We had a brilliant evening – mainly due to the fact that there was a giant chocolate f...
Thursday 26th April It was a B&Q day today – and they sent me to Folkestone!! I had never been there before, and I swear B&Q are sending me further and further away!! It was a small warehouse store that had been built but everyone, like at all B&Q stores, was so proud of ...
Saturday 21st April It was Ed’s leaving do in Reading today! It was a little bit scary as this was it! Everyone was saying goodbye to him and he is going to live with me in Milton Keynes and work there too. I felt like I shouldn’t have been there as I was the one that was takin...
Saturday 14th April I went out with Hazel and Marissa this evening. Hazel is married with 2 kids and I stayed round hers that night. I went to school with these 2 girls and I have never been out to their local place – we’ve always met up in Bedford, so tonight was my first outin...
Wednesday 11th April I went to the AGM of a charity that I am patron for – Bosom Pals. This is a group of ladies that meet once a month that have been or are going through the gruelling stages of breast cancer. They are top ladies and they really help each other get through the ba...
Saturday 7th April It is my brother’s birthday today! He is 24 today and how depressing for him?! He is in hospital and has a plaster cast on and he can’t move! He is on the operation schedule again today, but I am not holding much hope. The worse thing is that he ha...
Monday 2nd April I have a big “L” on my forehead today, or at least this is what everyone keeps doing to me today! Damn! But I had Sky+ fitted today! Yippee! That has cheered me up!! Wednesday 3rd April I went into London in the evening to meet Mel Goldberg for ...
Saturday 31st March It was Premier A county weekend! Herts had some work to do. We needed to pull it out of the bag and as I had been injured, I wasn’t feeling too optimistic! As my week hadn’t been the luckiest one either, I was thinking that I had some curse on me and eve...
Thursday 29th March It was the Sports Industry Awards in the evening. I was really looking forward to this as last year it was brilliant (except everyone remembered me getting very drunk!) and it is a really good evening to meet lots of contacts for the future. My friend Lucy fro...
Tuesday 27th March We lost the 2nd leg of the semi-final to Greve. It was pretty depressing but we knew that they were probably the strongest team in the competition. I was in a mood as I pulled my thigh within the first few points of my match and my leg was seizing up by the ...
Saturday 24th March I had been invited to go on “Fighting Talk” on BBC 5Live with Colin Murray and it was going to be the 1st time that the show had all female guests on. I was really nervous as the other guest were Eleanor Aldroyd, Sue Mott and Hazel Irvine – all very clever people ...
Friday 16th March Went to Reading to see Ed and my sister and to go out for some food together. It was really nice to see Lisa as I haven’t seen her for ages. We went to Wagamama’s and then to a bar for a glass of wine and a gossip. Felt a bit sorry for Ed as Lisa and I te...
Tuesday 13th March Off the Swiss Open today. I am only playing ladies doubles as Nathan is going to have an elbow operation. It seems weird going for 1 event but it makes a nice change! Clarky, Rob and Donna went by EasyJet to Basel and when looking through the flight magazi...
Monday 26th February Had my carpets done today! Was really excited as the carpets I had in before were the original ones that the builders put in when the house was first built 6 years ago and by now they were really stained (many spilt cups of tea!). The new ones are fantastic!...
Friday 23rd February Went away for the weekend again! This time, Ed and I decided on Riga, Latvia. Not quite sure why we chose this place, but it was another country to add to the list! I looked on the internet to see what temperature it was going to be so I knew what to...
Thursday 22nd February It was the England v Germany match today at Preston. Ed was staying with me at the time and managed to get him to come and watch! I used the “you haven’t watched me play for ages” line, which is actually true as the last time he came to a badminton match w...
Tuesday 20th February It was club match day again! It was the 1st semi-final leg of the league between us (Team Vestsjaelland) and Greve. Donna and I travelled in the morning, leaving my house at 4am, so we were pretty tired when we got to the match. I had to play ladies doub...
Saturday 17th February I went to my first spinning class today! I had never been before and I thought I would give it a try at the David Lloyd near where I live. The good thing about spinning is that you put the effort in as much as you want to. There were some serious bik...
Sunday 11th February Went back to England in the morning. I had a good time in Marrakech, but I was glad to go home. It is a beautiful city but a different one to anything I have been to before. On the way to the airport, there were 2 men on a motorbike carrying a sheep!&n...
Thursday 15th February I had a B&Q today in Southampton. It was for the customer services department and it involved a bit of morale speaking from me and a bit of a hit around in the conference room! It went well although more people couldn’t come along as there wasn’t enoug...
Friday 9th February Got up ridiculously early to get to Luton and hopefully catch our flight to Marrakech! There hadn’t been any more snow so all was back to normal and we left for Morocco and the sun! It was a bit strange leaving a country that was 1 degree and landing after just 3 ...
Tuesday 6th February I went for a meeting and a dinner with the head guys at Lenovo at their offices in Basingstoke. Lenovo are one of the sponsors for the Olympics and haven’t really done much publicity to promote this. It is now that they have decided to push this and are looki...
Monday 5th February Unbelievably, we had a Danish match today! Great scheduling or what?! It was because the Danish Nationals were the weekend of 9th to 11th Feb so they thought that it would be fine to put a match on this day. Not so good for us. After getting bac...
Friday 2nd February Woke up feeling completely jet lagged and got in my car and headed for Manchester. Arriving at the Velodrome, it really didn’t feel like the National Championships! In previous years, I have got to the place early and settled in and chilled out before all the...
Here is a typical day for me whilst training. Hope to have a more detailed version soon. click here
Tuesday 9th January Went to Loughborough in the morning for a 100%ME campaign. There was a National Youth Sport Trust conference going on for 15 and 16 year olds in sailing, rowing, canoeing, triathlon and cycling. My job was to do a little bit of a talk on drugs in sport an...
Saturday 6th January Went to Reading today. Did a bit of shopping with my sister in the morning and then in the evening, Ed, myself, Lisa and my step-cousin Gregg went out to dinner and a few drinks. We went to a Mexican restaurant and had lovely fish! Tried to be as health...
Tuesday 2nd January Ok, my body is rebelling for the drinking and being in a smoky place and trying to sing karaoke! My voice sounds like I should be operating a phone sex line and I am coughing like anything! Today was first day back training as well, so not the healthiest start...
Saturday 30th December Rob needed a lift back to Milton Keynes and I said I could take him. It was only then I realised that I had my sister too in the car, plus our bags for the trip, as well as all the Xmas pressies and other luggage I had which was all in a Mini. So we had to pack ...
Thursday 21st December I had to go to Holborn Studios today to have some photos taken for my new sponsor The Mall. I arrived at 10am and was into make-up straight away. The make-up artist made me look so glamorous! It felt a bit weird as I then had to put on my badminton ...
Wednesday 13th December Ok, woke up feeling like crap. Now a hangover I was expecting, but this was different. I think my body has had enough! Lack of sleep, too much alcohol and too much travelling around had to be the reason I was feeling like I was feeling! Natha...
Monday 11th December Felt bloody knackered! I had to leave pretty early from Birmingham to home as I was having my bathrooms done this week and the guys were starting today. Great - I got home and they were banging away and soon my head was too! Gareth and Stuart (very cute!) ha...
Thursday 7th December It was the Square Mile Sports Awards today in which I had been nominated for "Sportswoman of the Year". I was very pleased with this nomination and after the year I have had - Commonwealth Champion, European Champion and World Champion - I thought that I might be...
Saturday 2nd December Had been invited to Northampton Rugby Club by my bank NatWest and was really looking forward to it, but Mum was playing in the National Veterans Championships and really wanted me to go and support her, so I cancelled the rugby (ow!) and went to watch Mum. Mum is 55 in ...
Thursday 30th November Went to London again to do the 2nd part of the Sainsbury's talk. I got there with 20 minutes to spare and so I went into a coffee shop and there was Jonathan Cope, one of the other people that did the talks last week and was doing the same again this week! ...
Friday 24th November Just Donna, me and Rob Blair in training today! Everyone has gone to the Scottish Open so it was a bit quiet! I had to head to Southampton pretty much straight after for the B&Q recognition dinner at the De Vere hotel on the harbour. It was a p...
Tuesday 21st November Our Danish match today was against Vaerlose. Basically we are not doing as well in the league as we are supposed to be doing and now it is crunch time. We need to win the next 3 matches, starting with this one. Nathan and I did our bit and won easily (al...
Saturday 18th November Wow, what a day. For those of you not been to Rome - book your tickets now! I had the best day ever!! The sights and the history are inspiring! We saw the Coliseum, the Forum and the Trevi Fountain today. We walked round the city all day and it...
Thursday 16th November Julian and Pete had decided it was time for hill sprints again. It was raining and cold and wet and slippery and we had to sprint up the hill in the woods that we all go to to train. I couldn't feel my hands after! But it is always a good feeling w...
Monday 13th November (Ed's birthday!) It is my boyfriend Ed's birthday - he is 27 today. Yes I know he is younger than me, but it is the fashion at the moment! Think Cameron Diaz, Demi Moore and Kate Moss!! I had to train in the morning (5 laps running round the lake by th...
Friday 10th November Another charity day for Nathan and I. This time it was for Caravan who are a charity for the grocery industry. They were holding a lunch at the London Hilton hotel on Park Lane and Nathan and I were invited. So off we went to London looking very smar...
Monday 6th November Got home at 3am in the morning, so pretty tired when I woke up! My cold is still about and it seems to be getting worse! Can't get rid of it! Today I went to Bedford Modern Junior School to do an assembly for the 7 to 10 year olds about sport and the ...
Saturday 28th October Went to London today. Ed went to play football for his team and I decided not to watch him (deduct brownie points for me!) and went into the city. I forget how busy London is on a Saturday! I tried to have a look in Selfridges but got annoyed with everyon...
Tuesday 24th October Played Kastrup in the team match today. We drew 3-3 and so it was down to a golden set! Mens doubles was the decider and so Nathan and Tony Gunawan took on Jonus Rasmussen and Thomas Laybourn. We lost 21-17! Aaarggh! Only 1 point from the ma...
Saturday 14th October Met up with my Mum and Stepdad with my sister in Reading and we went for a drink in a really nice pub and then Lisa and I got ready to hit the town! We were supposed to go into London, but Lisa was a bit skint so it was Reading instead! Slight difference I know...
Wednesday 4th October Am feeling tired from all this travelling! Nathan and Donna are struggling with colds and driving back to Milton Keynes is making me even more tired! Tried to train but only managed little bits and then had to do an interview with the Daily Express. ...
Friday 29th September My boyfriend Ed is trying to improve his badminton. He's been playing against my mum for a while now and his record is not good. Think it's lost 53, won 1. Not the best! So he wanted me to coach him so he can improve - especially his backhand...
Wednesday 27th September Am home!! At last! So happy yet so tired. My day will consist of washing, unpacking, sorting out post and cleaning!! What a homecoming! Anglia TV then call me up saying they want to interview me from my house?! So at 6pm they ...
Monday 11th September Aaarghhh!! My cold is really setting in now. Not the best timing - a week before the World Championships! Oh well. I've had to play with food poisoning before so a cold should be a doddle. Right.... had to call up and cancel a B&Q day f...
Monday 4th - Wednesday 6th September Feeling so jet lagged. It has to be one of the worst and also the strangest feelings in the world. It is really weird as technically there is nothing wrong with me but any small bit of exercise leaves me feeling knackered! The weekend was pretty...
