Grace Reid: Scottish diver proud of ‘pushing boundaries’ after retirement

After taking the sport up at five, she admits “baby Grace might have struggled to have conceived” what she would go on to achieve.

Her elite career began at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where – aged 14 – she was the youngest member of the Team Scotland squad. Since then she has racked up major medals and milestones.

In 2016, she became the first Scot to win an individual European diving medal since 1954, taking bronze in the 3m springboard.

In the same year she became the first British woman to make an Olympic final in the same discipline, finishing eighth.

Two years later she won Commonwealth Games gold, a first ever women’s diving medal at the event for Scotland and the first Scottish gold medal in the sport in 60 years.

“There have been so many highs, there have been a lot of lows, really difficult times, a lot of change, a lot of growth, firsts, records,” Reid explained.

“It really has given me everything in every capacity, from a personal perspective and also from a sporting angle as well.

“Championing women in sport, young people in general and the benefits that sport has to offer is something that has been at the core of what I have done since I was little and that equal opportunity is something that I am very passionate about.”

Reid graduated from Edinburgh University earlier this year with an applied sport science degree.

“I would love to stay involved in sport,” she added. “What that actually looks like in what capacity I am still trying to figure that out but I know that my passion for sport is going to be used in some capacity, whatever role I end up doing.

‘Having my degree and having 20 years of experience in elite sport is quite a deadly combination.

“It is a lot to process so I am giving myself time to figure that out. It is exciting to think what I could be doing in a couple of months’ time.”