Eilish McColgan, whose mother Liz won 10,000 metres gold in Tokyo at the 1991 World Athletics Championships, broke Paula Radcliffe’s British record over the distance in March but missed the London Marathon in April with injury
Last Updated: 17/08/23 2:00pm
Eilish McColgan won gold in the 10,000 metres for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year
Eilish McColgan has pulled out of the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest after failing to recover from a knee injury.
The 32-year-old, whose mother Liz won 10,000 metres gold in Tokyo in 1991, broke Paula Radcliffe’s British record over the distance in March but missed the London Marathon in April.
McColgan followed in her mother’s footsteps when she won gold for Scotland in the women’s 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, battling past Kenya’s Irene Cheptai in a Games-record time of 30 minutes and 48.60 seconds.
But in May, McColgan said that her chances of adding a World Championship gold in Budapest were a “pipe dream” due to injury setbacks.
“To be in Budapest and be at the start and healthy would be a big achievement to be honest,” she said.
Announcing her withdrawal from the championships, which start on Saturday, McColgan wrote on Twitter: “Sadly, I’ve made the hard decision to miss this year’s World Championships in Budapest.
“We always knew it was going to be tight to make it to the start line, having carried a knee injury since April.
“We tried everything we could to be ready for this weekend, but ran out of time to get back into spikes. Hopeful I’ll be able to showcase my fitness on the roads this autumn.”