Great article from The Derbyshire Post regards the decision by Donna Kellogg to retire. I played alongside Donna both at Sydney and Athens, in addition to numerous tournaments all the way up from juniors. Despite injuries Donna has still made right to the very top of the sport.
 
Donna Kellogg's drive and total commitment will be seriously missed by England Badminton – but she has chosen the right time to leave the sport, says her long-time coach, Andy Wood.

Kellogg, from Spondon, announced her retirement last month and Wood, himself from Shardlow, has spoken to the Derby Telegraph about the 20 years he spent nurturing her career.

Wood, the Great Britain badminton team leader at the last Olympic Games, coached 31-year-old Kellogg while she collected a host of Commonwealth, European and British championship medals and represented Britain at three Olympic Games – in Sydney, Athens and Beijing.

He recalls spotting the determination – if not immediately the talent – in a 10-year-old Kellogg at a session at Borrowood School, in Spondon.

"Myself and a couple of England internationals were touring around the schools doing short exhibitions, promoting the game and recruiting talent for the 'future stars' programme I was just setting up," he said.
"Having completed the exhibition, we always invite a few of the kids up to have a go.

"It wasn't immediately obvious that Donna was going to be a great athlete by any means.

"But what was obvious was how she refused to allow the shuttle to land on her side of the court, no matter what she had to do to stop it. This dogged determination was a rare quality and completely evident, even at that stage."

It is a determination which Wood is convinced kept Kellogg at the top of her sport through a serious of injuries early in the last decade and, later, through the frustration of seeing the Chinese players dominate the sport.

"Donna has numerous qualities which have enabled her to have such a wonderful career," he said.

"Her natural skill and flair equipped her to be a very creative player, one capable of pulling off the unexpected at critical times in a match.

"Not only that, she has the courage and conviction to impose herself on her opponents at these critical time.

"Her sole motivation force in sport was winning. She hates losing with a passion – at anything!

"It was not about looking good or money or fame, purely the winning.

"This driving competitive force enabled her to overcome all kinds of adversity that would have finished off many others long ago.

"Every time she stepped on to court, both in competition and practice, she demanded total focus and commitment from herself and those around her."

By her own admission, Kellogg was not always easy to be around after a defeat and such singlemindedness, you might imagine, could cause problems between player and coach.

But over such a long period, Wood says he and Kellogg built up a good understanding.

"Our coach-player relationship could never be described as volatile," he said.

"Donna has a special way of communicating her disagreement without even having to open her mouth!

"For sure it was a relationship that had to encounter tremendous highs and significant lows, often within a few days, such is the roller-coaster nature of the professional tour.

"Our joint commitment to the goal and Donna's passion to often led to an agreed 'cooling off' period before we debriefed any serious losses but that was purely to ensure maximum effectiveness.

"We have been lucky that our personalities fitted together well. I constantly admire her drive and commitment, so our athlete-coach relationship was simply built on trust, mutual respect and total loyalty in acquiring the common goal."

Wood believes Kellogg was good enough to have continued competing and winning medals at the top of the sport.

But he said: "Donna has chosen the right time to leave the sport.

"Every athlete dreams of going out at the top. She was still competing at the very highest world level, as demonstrated recently by being so close to winning the prestigious World Super Series Finals in Malaysia, which was her last ever event.

"British badminton would love to have seen her continue. But calling an end to such an illustrious career is a difficult and personal thing to do and if Donna knows the time is now, then so it is.

"We will all miss her both personally and within our training environment. She set the standards for all others to follow because she would not tolerate lack of effort or commitment and she led by example. That will be an extremely difficult thing to replicate.

"But watching her win major titles all around the world has been immensely pleasurable. Marching into the Olympic stadiums alongside her at the opening ceremonies of Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 as part of the Great Britain team were also proud and memorable moments."