From young to gold: Dundee star Eilish McColgan’s rise in pictures

EILISH McColgan captured the hearts of the nation on Wednesday night with her stunning 10,000m Commonwealth Games gold medal triumph.

In one of the most memorable moments of Birmingham 2022, the 31-year-old Dundonian clinched her first major title.

Inspired by her dedication and perseverance, we trawled the DC Thomson archives to recall her life and career so far.

Eilish was born in Dundee in 1990 to international athletes Liz and Peter McColgan.

Less than a year later, Liz won the 10,000m at the

World Championships in Tokyo.

Last year Eilish said:

“Tokyo is a city that’s close to my family’s hearts because that’s where my mum won the World Championship in

1991.”

Mother and daughter enjoyed racing together when Eilish was growing up.

In December 2003, they enjoyed a great afternoon at the 10th Spar European Cross Country Championships.

“Growing up, my parents sheltered me a bit from the fact they were professional athletes,” said the two-time Olympian in 2020. “They wanted to ensure that I got into the sport for the right reasons.

“I was confused when other kids crowded around my mum and asked for autographs.

“She never had the medals out on display in the house and we never watched her races back on video.

“It was from me that I came into running, rather than them.”

When she wasn’t busy attending Dundee High School,

Eilish continued to race and could often be spotted running laps around Camperdown Park.

Just 15, Eilish won a silver medal at the Scottish Schools Championships in the 1,500m.

The same year Eilish won bronze at the International Under-17s Schools Championships.

In 2007, when she wasn’t winning medals, she was busy promoting that year’s Great Scottish Run in Glasgow.

At the 2008 Scottish Indoor Championships, Eilish won a bronze medal in the 1,500m.

She was selected for the Commonwealth Youth Games in India that year but was unable to attend due to a major knee injury.

The Dundonian also missed the 2011 World Championships in South Korea after breaking her foot.

Eilish made her senior debut for Great Britain at the 2011 European Team Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. Despite the challenge of competing in an event she’d never run before – the 3,000m – Eilish still finished ninth.

Eilish achieved Olympic qualification in 2012. She won the British trials in under 10 minutes, and was the only athlete to finish in that time.

Eilish was also the only British athlete to have achieved the ‘A’ qualifying standard.

Last year she told the official Olympics website that running on the big stage, this time in the 3,000m steeplechase, had been a huge change for her.

She said: “I think one of my last races was the Scottish University Championships with about five people in the stands.

“And then all of a sudden here I was in London on the start line of an Olympic Games.”

Eilish was one of the first to test out the new Hampden track ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, where she competed in the steeplechase.

She was joined by pupils from Mount Florida Primary School.

A year earlier, Eilish had graduated with a maths and accountancy degree from Dundee University.

She later said: “It’s no secret I enjoyed university life. I probably partied more and harder than I should. But I don’t really regret it.

“But when I made the decision at the start of 2011,

I stopped partying right away and trained harder. I went from someone who was out drinking five nights a week, not sleeping and eating a kebab at 4am to someone who was teetotal and didn’t go out.

“And when I did commit myself fully, I started to have a far greater appreciation of the work and sacrifices Mum had put in to be one of the best athletes in the world.”

Eilish met partner and former middle-distance runner Michael Rimmer in 2014. He also coaches Eilish, alongside Liz.

At the Tokyo Olympics last year, Eilish failed to qualify for the 5,000m final. The star – who finished 13th in Rio five years earlier – said: “It was a dream season up until today.”

Eilish finished second in the Women’s Elite Race during the 2021 Great North Run.

It was a successful year for the Dundee runner.

She also beat Paula Radcliffe’s 17-year-old record in the British 5,000m, with a time of 14:28.55.

Of course, it all led to the Alexander Stadium, with Eilish winning gold before a tearful appearance on the podium as Flower of Scotland played.

She said: “On that last lap the crowd was vibrating through