The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
McColgan targets success on home soil
ATHLETICS: Dundee runner in fine form ahead of European Indoors in Glasgow in March
As undisputed Scottish athletics royalty, Eilish McColgan has been brought up on stories of success on home soil and is now desperate to stage her own fairytale at Glasgow 2019.
Dundee’s McColgan has been reared and coached by a long-distance legend in mum Liz, Olympic silver medallist at Seoul 1988 and world champion two years later.
The 27-year-old heads into next year’s European Athletics Indoor Championships in fine form having surged to 5,000m silver at the European Championships in Berlin over the summer.
And if McColgan needed any further incentive to reach the rostrum in her home country, hearing her mother’s tales of winning Commonwealth gold in Edinburgh in 1986 has provided it.
“It’s going to be pretty special and I think it will make a big difference knowing family, friends and people I’ve grown up with will be there,” said McColgan, speaking at the celebration of 100 days to go until Glasgow 2019.
“The last time I competed in Scotland was Glasgow 2014 and I think next year the atmosphere will be the same.
“My mum was very fortunate to have Edinburgh and she says to this day although she went on to be a world champion and win Olympic silver, that medal was probably her biggest achievement.
“It’s probably the greatest memory she has from athletics.”
The 3,000 and 5,000m runner emulated Liz last month in winning the Great South Run, prevailing over the 10-mile course in a race her mother won in 1995 and 1997.
This summer’s European glory in Berlin, added to bronze at the last European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, should fuel confidence that she can challenge for medals on Clydeside in March.
But among those to stand in her way is a compatriot – Laura Muir, Scotland’s golden girl on the track.
European champion Muir foiled McColgan in Serbia in 2017 and is widely expected to dominate the podium at next year’s World Championships.
“It was a bit of an up and down season for me,” she said.
“I had a bit of an illness heading to the Commonwealth Games, but I was over the moon to turn my season round in the end.
“The silver in Berlin was a huge step up and having waited until the age of 28 for my first global medal, it’s been a long time coming and it’s one of my biggest achievements to date.
“It’s exciting for Laura to be doing so well. It challenges you to be better and it’s inspiring to have another Scottish athlete competing on the world stage.”