Badminton star Kirsty Gilmour 'sent vile rape and death threats'

Badminton star Kirsty Gilmour says she has received rape and death threats online after losing games.

The messages have come from gamblers who have lost money on matches, she said.

Gilmour, 29, from Bothwell, has reported the messages to police, but says more needs to be done to prevent them from happening.

The two-time Olympian was competing at the Swiss Open last week and received the sickening messages when she lost to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, with some even suggesting the match was fixed.

Gilmlour told BBC Scotland: "It's always from an anonymous account, no picture, no followers.

"My best guess is they are betting on matches and lost, and they decided to take it out on me.#

"It is never someone that has watched the match and knows about badminton the sport.

"I am basically a random racehorse to them, and it hasn't gone their way, so they get personal.

"Thankfully when I read this one I was in an OK frame of mind. It wasn't a loss that particularly hurt me, so I was in an OK emotional state."

Gilmour added: "Sometimes I laugh them off - if it's one word like 'retire'.

"But if that had happened at a Commonwealth or Olympic Games with a lot riding on it, and it was a culmination of months of specific training and then they said something, it would not be as easy to handle.

"It hurts more when they target my play or me as a player.

"You can send a death or rape threat to anyone, but when they make it really personal about how I am bad at my job because they put money on it, those hurt more.

"If they comment on my posts I report those to Instagram, but a lot come through direct messages.

"I don't know what can be done; I even worry that talking about it will invite more and give attention to these people."

The Badminton World Federation is working with sports data firm Stats Perform to investigate suspicious betting activity on badminton matches, to better enhance its protection of the sport.

But Gilmour says she has never been approached to fix the outcome of a match.

"I wouldn't even know where to start," she said. "My reputation as a badminton player and a person is worth more than any money I could gain from fixing a match.

"Why would I go to all that effort and train 25 hours a week to purposely lose?"

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