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26-year-old Eilidh Gibson has decided to conclude her competitive sporting career after winning two team European Champion titles in women’s C1 in 2016 and 2017, a team bronze medal in C1 in 2015 and 3xWC1 gold medal at the 2017 World Championships. In addition she has also been a part of the women’s U23 C1 teams that have won seven medals at World and European U23 Championships. She also has a team medal from 2013 Junior World Championships.

 

Eilidh has been involved in canoe slalom since the age of 13 after falling in love with the ‘excitement and chaos of white water’, training with her local club Strathallan having previously been paddling with her parents from a young age. Her mother Jane has been British canoe slalom representative and is now ECA anti-doping and sports medicine technical delegate.

 

Eilidh joined the international circuit as a junior in 2012, and made her first steps onto the senior team two years later, and won her first individual medal at the 2014 Lee Valley World Cup, claiming silver in C1.

 

Looking back on her paddling career, Eilidh said: “I’m unbelievably proud to have represented Great Britain on so many occasions over the years in canoe slalom. I never took it for granted. Every time I got to walk out at an opening ceremony or everytime the GB flag was on my boat, I always felt like I was doing myself proud. It's a really special thing to be able to represent your country and I was really proud to do it for quite a number of years.   I have so many highlights for so many different reasons. The big moments of success like winning a silver medal at a World Cup in Lee Valley, winning the team World Championships and finishing fourth individually in 2017.”

 

In 2018, Eilidh founded Slalom Inspires, a non-profit organisation run by volunteers that is aiming to inspire and empower girls into canoe slalom. Having suffered a shoulder injury which took her out of competition for two seasons, she wanted to channel her passion for the sport into inspiring girls who weren’t already in the paddling, to nurture their talents and fall in love with the Canoe Slalom, whatever their personal dream or aspiration. For her work she received the Social Impact Award at the UK Sport PLx Conference in 2019.

 

In October last year, Eilidh continued to show her commitment to canoe slalom and was  appointed to the ICF Athletes Committee as one of two slalom representatives, and has no plans to stop being involved in the sport completely. “I 100% plan to stay involved in the sport. I still love going canoeing and it is a sport I hope I will do for the rest of my life. I will continue with Slalom Inspires for sure, and as an ICF athlete representative I will still love to play a part in the community that I love,” said Eilidh who studied biomedical sciences at the University of Edinburgh.

 

Recently, she has been selected as one of the ECA representatives at the Munich 2022 European Championships Young Leaders Forum which will be held in August.