EILISH McColgan has pulled out of the London Marathon on Sunday because of a knee problem.
Event organisers announced on Thursday evening that Dundee-born McColgan delayed her travel to London to give her the best chance of competing, and would not be attending a scheduled pre-event media conference on Friday morning.
The 32-year-old Scot, who won her first major title on the track at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, had hoped to see how the injury responded, but confirmed she had not been able to shake off the issue in time to run.
READ MORE: Eilish McColgan on the 10 things that changed her life
“I was sort of hopeful to be honest,” she said. “I have had a bit of knee bursitis back in February, March time and it was something I could run through.
“But I couldn’t run through this. I’ve tried, trust me, but it has just got to the point where it is not going to be feasible to run a marathon this weekend.”
McColgan had planned to run the 2022 London Marathon last October before being forced to withdraw due to a medical issue.
The problem was identified as rebound hypoglycaemia, a common occurrence among endurance athletes which leads to reduced blood sugar levels and not enough glucose in the blood to meet the body’s needs.
McColgan, whose mother Liz won the London Marathon in 1996, said: “There are a few factors that have come together to lie a bad storm. A whole host of things in the last three weeks have built up and this knee thing has been the final crack in the armour.
“I’m disappointed. I know I’m ready to run a good marathon. I’d have loved to have given it a go and see what happens.
“These things happened for a reason. There will be another marathon, they’ll be another London Marathon in my future which hopefully I’ll get the chance to perform well at.
“I’ve shed a lot of tears in the last two days. It feels tougher because I’ve missed two now, for two entirely different reasons.
“All elite athletes go through this, I hope one day I will be on that start line. I know I can run a good marathon and I know one day it will be in London.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here