Doyle is Scotland’s most decorated athlete of all time having won 19 major championship medals, the vast majority of them – including a 4x400m relay bronze for Team GB at Rio 2016 – secured while based at the Team Bath Sports Training Village between 2011 and 2019.

She won her last major medal on home soil at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, silver in the 4x400m relay, before taking time out of the sport to have her first child with husband and coach Brian.

Doyle has now decided to officially hang up her spikes, saying: “I take with me so many amazing memories but, most importantly, I step away happy in the knowledge that this is the right time for me to go. I’m not saying it was an easy decision to make but it was the right one and I am grateful I got to choose when it happened.

“The sport has brought me so much more than just medals. I have made lifelong friends, experienced incredible atmospheres, made history and even met my husband because of it. Now we have our wee boy, Campbell, and so much more to look forward to as a family.

“To everyone who has supported me and cheered me on over the years, I am so grateful to you all. What an adventure it has been and now I look forward to the next one, whatever it may be.”

It was after winning her first medal, 400m hurdles silver at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, that Doyle joined legendary coach Malcolm Arnold’s training group at the University of Bath.

“I was running quite well but felt like I needed a specialist hurdles coach,” she recalled. “I’d met Malcolm a couple of times at different events, so I rang him and asked if he’d be willing to coach me – thankfully he said yes.

“There’s just a really nice, relaxed atmosphere at the University. Everything is here and everything is near – the tracks, the gym, the physios, soft-tissue therapy, hydrotherapy, all you need. It just makes our jobs so much easier.”

Doyle went on to make her Olympic debut at London 2012 before winning her first World Championship medal in 2013, 4x400m relay bronze which was later upgraded to silver.

One of Scotland’s faces of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, she won another 400m hurdles silver in an emotional evening at a packed Hampden Park and followed that up with gold at the European Championships, where she also won 4x400m bronze. Further relay medals followed in 2015 as Doyle helped Britain to bronze at both the World Relay and World Championships.

A memorable 2016 saw Doyle win 4x400m relay gold at the European Championships before being part of the GB quartet that took bronze at the Rio Olympic Games, along with fellow Bath-based athlete Emily Diamond. She also reached the 400m hurdles final in Brazil.

Doyle’s status within her sport was demonstrated when she was voted by her peers to be Britain’s team captain at the London 2017 IAAF World Championships. She once again reached the 400m hurdles final before winning silver in the 4x400m relay.

2018 saw Doyle win her first individual medal on the global stage when she claimed 400m bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham. The following month saw her act as flag-bearer for Scotland at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she again won 400m hurdles silver – the third of her career.

A record-equalling fifth appearance for Britain at a European Championships followed at Berlin 2018, where Doyle won bronze in the women’s 4x400m relay, before the 2019 Indoor Championships in Glasgow provided a fitting conclusion to a magnificent career.

Courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd

Doyle – who is Scotland’s most decorated athlete with 15 medals on the international stage – will, along with Anyika Onuora, make a record-equalling fifth appearance for Britain at a European Championships when they take place from August 6-12.

The 2014 400m hurdles gold-medallist, coached by Brian Doyle at the Sports Training Vilage, will compete in her specialist individual event after proving her fitness with a solid return to action at the Muller Anniversary Games in London over the weekend.

She is also in the 4x400m relay squad along with fellow University-based athlete Emily Diamond – they helped GB to relay gold at the 2016 European Championships and have also won Olympic bronze and World silver during the past two years.

MJ Church ambassador David King will compete in the 110m hurdles and fellow Sports Performance graduate Cameron Chalmers, supported by a Thompson Education Trust Scholarship, is in the men’s 4x400m squad – both are coached by James Hillier at the STV.

Three University of Bath alumni will also be competing in Berlin. Accounting & Finance graduate Rosie Clarke will race in the 3,000m steeplechase and Kirsten McAslan, who studied Biochemistry, has been selected for the women’s 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay squad. Sports Performance graduate Jack Green goes in the equivalent men’s events.

For more information about athletics at the University of Bath, visit www.teambath.com/athletics.

Courtesy of Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

It was a 14^th podium finish at a major championship for the 30-year-old, who has won Commonwealth and European medals in her specialist 400m hurdles discipline but had previously narrowly missed out on the indoor or outdoor World stage.

Roared on by a home crowd at Arena Birmingham, Doyle attacked the first lap to get in a strong position and then once again displayed the determination she is renowned for as she held off Poland’s Justyna Swiety-Ersetic on the home straight to take third place in a season’s best of 51.60. The American duo of Courtney Okolo and Shakima Wimbley took gold and silver respectively.

“I’ve always won medals in the relays but to win one on my own in an individual 400m is very special and means a lot,” said Doyle. “It’s not my preferred event so to do this is incredible.

“This adds another accolade to my collection which is just amazing. It was a good race for me – I went out hard which was the plan and I’m so pleased with the end result.”

Doyle, who is coached by Brian Doyle at the University’s Sports Training Village, will now turn to her attention to the outdoor season and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games taking place from April 4-15.

“I love the indoors and I think this has prepared me so well for the Commonwealth Games as well,” she said. “I can go into that with so much confidence. I’m testing my flat speed and it is clearly there so I’ll look forward to getting back to the hurdles.”

MJ Church ambassador David King – coached by James Hillier – reached the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles, a competition won in dramatic style by former University of Bath-based athlete Andrew Pozzi. His winning time of 7.46 was just one-hundredth of a second faster than Jarret Eaton of the United States.

You can find more information on the athletics programme at the University of Bath here.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath press office at Matchtight Ltd.

Doyle booked her place by winning 400m gold at the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships on Sunday, again at Arena Birmingham, in a season-best time of 51.84.

“I am delighted with that,” said the multiple international medallist, who is coached by Brian Doyle at the Sports Training Village. “I am always proud to win the British title, I love competing at these championships. I love an indoor 400m, it is so different to the outdoors. It is so tactical and I think I thrive on that.”

Doyle will compete in both the 400m and 4x400m relay at the World Indoors, taking place from March 1-4.

MJ Church ambassador King, coached by James Hillier, will race in the 60m hurdles after setting a lifetime best of 7.63 to win a silver medal at the British Indoors. Andrew Pozzi, who used to train at the University, has also been selected for the World Indoors after winning gold in 7.58.

For more information about athletics at the University of Bath, visit www.teambath.com/athletics.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight

Eilidh Doyle (Photo: Sam Farr for Matchtight)

Doyle claimed the first of her 13 major championship medals – the most ever won by a Scottish track and field athlete – when she secured 400m hurdles silver at the Delhi 2010 Games, a result she matched four years later on an unforgettable evening in front of her home crowd at Glasgow 2014.

She will once again race over the hurdles in Australia and is also part of the Scottish 4x400m squad, hoping to add to the four Olympic and World relay medals she has won with Great Britain during an illustrious career.

Joining Doyle, who is coached by Brian Doyle at the Sports Training Village, in the relay squad is Kirsten McAslan, a Biochemisty graduate who was supported by a Santander Sports Scholarship while studying and training at the University of Bath. It is her second Commonwealths appearance having also competed at Glasgow 2014.

Doyle’s selection means a dynamic dozen sportspeople based at the University of Bath have now been officially picked for the Gold Coast 2018 Games, taking place from April 4-15.

Emily Diamond, Doyle’s fellow relay medallist at Rio 2016 and London 2017, is in the England athletics squad along with Tom Gale, Katrina Hart and MJ Church ambassador David King, while Thompson Education Trust sporting scholar Cameron Chalmers will race for Guernsey.

Also selected are Kristian Callaghan (shooting); James Guy, Miles Munro, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Andrew Willis (swimming); and Vicky Holland (triathlon).

For more information on the athletics programme at the University of Bath, visit www.teambath.com/athletics.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

The British Athletics team captain, coached by Brian Doyle at the Sports Training Village, was roared on by a capacity crowd at the London Stadium as she raced in her fifth successive global final on Thursday.

She had a tough draw on the inside lane, though, and made a mistake on the bend as she came home in 55.71 in a race won by Korey Carter of the United States in 53.07.

“It was always going to be a tough final and I knew I was going into it ranked eighth but for me it wasn’t that great a race,” said Doyle, who had finished fifth and sixth in her previous World Championships finals in 2013 and 2015.

“I mucked up hurdle seven and made a bit of a mess of it, that’s the thing that has really annoyed me. If I’d finished eighth but nailed the race I would probably be OK with that but there was more there that I could have done.

“The consistency is there, in terms of getting to finals, but I just want to make that step up now and try to be somewhere other than eighth.”

Doyle will have another chance to push for a medal this weekend in the women’s 4x400m relay, along with fellow University-based athlete Emily Diamond. Both were part of the British quartet that won bronze at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“I feel in good shape going into the hurdles and hopefully all the other girls will bring it as well,” Doyle added. “I think we have a good chance of maybe doing something there.”

She is also looking forward to experiencing the London crowd once again, saying: “The support in the stadium and at home has been lovely, I have really appreciated it. The crowd out there are just so grateful and happy for us, and that means a lot.”

Sports Performance student Cameron Chalmers, coached by James Hillier and supported by a Thompson Education Trust Scholarship, will also hope to make his debut at a global championships this weekend in the men’s 4x400m relay.

He is in a British squad that also includes Sports Performance graduate Jack Green, who reached the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles earlier this week.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.