McColgan represented Great Britain at the 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She represented Scotland at Commonwealth Gamesin2014 in Glasgow, in 2018inGold Coast in addition to the 2022 Games in Birmingham. She is the Scottish record holder in the event she originally specialised in, the 3000 metres steeplechase, from 2013 before injury forced her to move away from steeplechase. She holds the Scottish record in 10,000 metres. McColgan is a seven-time national champion.
Eilish McColgan was born in Dundee, Scotland to Liz and Peter McColgan, both athletes.[4] She is a member of Dundee's Hawkhill Harriers Club and is coached by her mother, former 10,000 metres World Champion and Olympic silver medallist Elizabeth Nuttall known more commonly during her racing career as Liz McColgan.[4][5][6]
Following her mother's second marriage, McColgan is step-daughter of long-distance runner John Nuttall and step-sister of his son, para-athlete Luke Nuttall.[9][10] Her partner is former international middle-distance runner for Great Britain and England Michael Rimmer.
In 2019, her home in East Didsbury was the target of a burglary while she was away on training.[11] McColgan reported the house was "completely ransacked", with numerous priceless materials stolen in the burglary, with McColgan also criticizing the police response to her report.[12]
In 2006, she won a silver medal at the Scottish Schools Championships in the 1500 metres and a bronze medal at the International Under-17s Schools Championships.[13] In 2007, she came fifth in the Scottish Senior Championships 1500 metres.[13] At the 2008 Scottish Indoor Championships she won a bronze medal in the 1500 m.[13]
McColgan was selected for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in India but suffered a major knee injury which it took her a year-and-a-half to recover from.[6] She also missed the 2011 World Championships, held in Daegu, South Korea, after breaking her foot at a Diamond League event in London.[14] Her senior debut for Great Britain came at the 2011 European Team ChampionshipsinStockholm, Sweden. Initially selected as a travelling reserve to cover a range of events, she was called upon to compete in the 3000 metres steeplechase, an event which she had only competed in twice before, and ran a personal best while finishing ninth.[15][16] She came fourth in the 1500 metres at the 2011 UK Indoor Championships and won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the UK Outdoor Championships.[13] She won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2011 Scottish University Championships.[13]
McColgan won two gold medals at the 2012 Scottish Universities Indoor Championships, placing first in both the 1500 and 3000 metres events.[13] In June 2012 at a meeting in Oslo, Norway she ran a time of 9:38.45 to beat the Olympic 'A' qualification standard in the 3000 metres steeplechase.[17] McColgan confirmed her qualification for the steeplechase at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London by winning the British trials in a time of 9:56.90.[18] She was the only athlete to finish in under 10 minutes and the only British athlete to have achieved the 'A' qualifying standard.[19][20] After achieving Olympic qualification, McColgan chose not to compete at the 2012 European Athletics ChampionshipsinHelsinki, Finland.[21] She competed for Great Britain team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's 3000 m steeplechase alongside compatriot Barbara Parker.[22] Her time of 9:54.36 was not sufficient for her to reach the final.[23]
Having competed in the steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014, the Dundonian switched from the barriers to the flat following a serious foot injury.[3]
In 2019, her training regime included a daily run, cross training and a track session twice a week.[27] The Scotswoman finished tenth in the 5000 m event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, setting a personal best of 14:46.17.[3]
On 1 July in Oslo, McColgan set a British 5000 m record with her time of 14:28.55, beating the 17-year mark of Paula Radcliffe.[28]
Qualified for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Japan, she failed to advance to the 5000 m final on 30 July,[29] finishing in 10th place of her heat in a time of 15:09.68.[30] A few days later, she also competed in the 10,000 m event, finishing ninth in the final with a time of 31:04.46.
After a long track season, on 17 October, McColgan won for the third time the Great South Run in a time of 50m 43s, breaking Sonia O'Sullivan's course record and the European best mark for the 10 miles. She took almost half a minute off Radcliffe's UK record, and two seconds off the previous European best held by Israel's Lonah Chemtai Salpeter. Thus, McColgan improved on double win of her mother.[31]
In February, the Dundonian set a new British record in the 5 km road race, clocking 14:48 in Dubai to break the mark of 14:51 set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003. McColgan bettered her mother's unofficial 14:57 from 1991, and was only four seconds short of a European record.[32] Later that month, she beat Radcliffe's 21-year-old British half marathon record by 21 seconds, in a time of one hour six minutes 26 seconds, improving her mother's best yet again (1:07:11).[33]
Eilish McColgan on her way to a new Scottish 10,000 m record at the 2022 FBK GamesinHengelo
In March, McColgan launched a non-profit organisation Giving Back to Track with her partner Michael Rimmer with the aim to encourage young people to get involved in athletics and to fund the next generation of female athletes.[34][35]
In May, she broke Radcliffe's European 10 km record at the Great Manchester Run in a time of 30 minutes 19 seconds, shaving two seconds off the previous marker set by Radcliffe in 2003. McColgan finished second behind only Hellen Obiri who set the course record of 30:15.[36] In June at the FBK GamesinHengelo, she set a new Scottish 10,000 m record of 30:19.02, beating the time set by her mother at the same venue in 1991.[37]
On 3 August, the 31-year-old claimed the first major title of her career as she won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres final at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Her winning time of 30:48:60 was a new Games record, breaking her mother's 32-year mark. Thus, she completed the family hat-trick as her mother won over the same distance at Commonwealth Games Edinburgh 1986 and Auckland 1990.[39] McColgan later added silver in the 5000 metres, which marked Scotland's 500th overall medal at the Commonwealth Games.[40]
The Dundonian continued her outstanding season at about a week later securing two additional medals at the European Championships Munich 2022. First she won a silver in the 10,000 metres (behind Yasemin Can), and added bronze for the 5000 metres three days later (behind Konstanze Klosterhalfen and Can), becoming the first British distance runner to compete in six championships outdoor finals in the same season.[41][42][43]
In September, McColgan set a course record and the joint-fourth fastest women's half marathon in British history at the Big Half in London with a time of 67m 35s. She improved the previous best mark by more than two minutes.[44]
She had to withdraw from the 2022 London Marathon due to 'rebound hypoglycemia' refuelling problems.[45] McColgan apparently improved by a second her own European 10 kilometres record, which she set earlier that year in Manchester, when winning at the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow in October.[46][47] However, the record set in Glasgow was invalidated when it was found that the course was 150 m short.[48] In November, she set a new British record in the 15 kilometres with her fourth-place finish in a time of 47:40 at the Zevenheuvelenloop in Netherlands, breaking her mother's official record of 47:43.[49]
On 4 March, after five weeks of altitude training in Colorado, McColgan broke Radcliffe's 21-year British 10,000 m record by 0.23 s with a time of 30:00.86 at the Sound Running The TEN in San Juan Capistrano, California. In Europe only Sifan Hassan had run faster.[50][51] On 2 April, the Scotswoman chopped 43 seconds from her British half marathon record set 14 months earlier, clocking the second-fastest female non-African mark in history of 1:05:43 for a win at the Berlin Half Marathon. She became the first British woman to win the competition.[52] Later that month, she again missed her debut over the classic distance in London Marathon due to a knee injury.[53]
Liz McColgan (SCO)
Esther Wanjiru (KEN)
Stella Chesang (UGA)
