Eilidh Child
20 February 1987 –
Track and Field Athlete
Eilidh Child is a Scottish track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and holds the Scottish record for the 400 metres hurdles with 54.22 sec (2013).
Child was born in Perth, Scotland. As a youngster, she twice won the U13 Scottish Schools butterfly swimming title.
In 2009, Child finished second at the European U23 Championships in Kaunus, Lithuania, behind fellow British athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton. She also qualified for that year’s World Championships in Berlin, reaching the semi-finals. Then in 2010, she won a silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 in the 400 metres hurdles.
In 2012, Child earned Olympic selection in which she reached the semi-finals.
Child won two medals at the 2013 European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, with silver in the 400 metres behind teammate Perri Shakes-Drayton, breaking the Scottish indoor record in the process, with 51.45. She then added a gold in the 4x400 m relay. The British quartet of Christine Ohurougu, Shana Cox, Child and Shakes-Drayton also improved the UK indoor record to 3:27.56. Outdoors, she broke the Scottish 400 metres hurdles record in Birmingham in June. Then in August, at the World Championships in Moscow, she came fifth in the finals. Alongside Cox, Margaret Adeoye and Ohurougu, she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay.
Child captained the first ever Scotland team to compete at the Glasgow International Indoor match at the Commonwealth Arena in January 2014, captaining the side to an overall position of fourth. As captain of the Great Britain team at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot, she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay. 2014 also saw Child secure her first British title in the 400 metres hurdles and take victory in the 400 metres hurdles on home soil at the Glasgow Grand Prix, the first ever Diamond League meeting held in Scotland. Child also captained the Scottish athletics team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Child has a degree in Physical Education from Edinburgh University and was formerly a full-time PE teacher at Perth Grammar School until she decided to focus further on her training, allowing her to relocate to Bath. Child wears a maroon and white wristband during all her races to symbolise her support for the Jambos.
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