[4] Tall and slender in her badminton prime, with elegant, accurate strokes, Gilks is the most successful player ever in the European Badminton Championships with 12 titles, two of them in women's singles, four in women's doubles and six in mixed doubles.

[5] She is also one of the most successful players in the long history of the All England Open Championships with eleven titles; two in women's singles, three in women's doubles, and six in mixed doubles.

[2] In 1976 she won all three events at the All Englands making her the last person to "sweep the board" there in a single year.

She also won a Gold and bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics when badminton was played as a demonstration sport.

She married 29 year old Michael Gilks of Newcastle Lyme, an umpire of the Badminton Association of England, and electrical engineer, on 26 September 1970 in Epsom, and moved to Kings Heath.