Eilidh Doyle – passing the baton

New documentary highlights former European champion’s journey into a life beyond athletics

Eilidh Doyle didn’t know it at the time but a European Indoor Championships final in front of a packed Emirates Arena in 2019 was to deliver the last race of her career.

The most decorated Scot in track and field was on the anchor leg for Great Britain and Northern Ireland that night and duly guided the Women’s 4x400m team home to silver.

Six years later and she is still passing the baton, only in a different way. Helping the next generation in athletics was on her mind even before she hung up her spikes, Doyle having joined the Board of Scottish Athletics in September 2018.

Her post-competition life is detailed in a new documentary, called Eilidh Doyle – Passing the Baton, created for the governing body by Urbane Media. In the film, the now 38-year-old talks about the end of her athletics career, motherhood and giving something back to the sport she loves.

Keynote speaking engagements with the Scottish Athletics Young People’s Forum, Awards Dinner and Club Conference have shone a light on the hurdler’s career change and she feels passionately that top athletes should be utilised more to help educate and guide those now on the same pathway.

“I was a PE teacher before I was a full-time athlete and, even when I was still competing, I was exploring different avenues to see what was out there,” says Doyle.

“In my career as an athlete, I think I learned a lot and I experienced a lot. And it was trying to work out: ‘What did I learn and where would that be useful? I think that’s where I’m useful in all my roles, because it’s somebody who’s been there and done that, [someone] who can give an athlete’s perspective on it.

“I’m a member of the Board of Scottish Athletics. I also work with various coaches across the country. As an athlete, you’re very much in your own bubble. Now that I’m out of that world, it’s nice to understand what’s going on in the rest of athletics.

“There are lots of us out there, athletes who have been to so many championships and had success or not had success, but equally have really important life skills and lessons and experiences.

‘They can share that with others. We can use our athletes that are coming to retirement or are retired and try to tell their stories and learn about their journeys. We have some great people who can pass on what they have experienced and share for the next generation as…