Eilish McColgan reveals sponsor row as injury forces London Marathon withdrawal
Eilish McColgan pulled out of the London Marathon citing injury and claimed organisers might not have allowed her to compete anyway.
The Scottish star was Britain’s big hope for the women’s race on Sunday having smashed her own national half marathon record by 43 seconds in Berlin earlier this month.
Inflammation in her knee, as she battled back from a hamstring tear, put paid to her ambitions of making her debut in a race famously won by mum Liz in 1996.
But McColgan revealed she had been “hit with a further roadblock - having been told I wouldn’t be allowed to race due to a sponsor clash between myself and London Marathon’s sponsor”.
The 32-year old added: “The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful - my body has said 'you've had enough now' and it has all come to a halt.
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“I’ve been in tough places before. It’s sport. It happens. But these past few weeks I’ve felt an overwhelming amount of pressure to try and keep everyone happy and try to make everyone happy.
Eilish celebrates with mum Liz McColgan after winning Women's 10,000m gold at 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)“From sponsors to race organisers, agents, journalists and even (partner) Michael & my family. I feel like life has swallowed me up and spat me out.”
Posting on social media McColgan, who is sponsored by Science in Sport, added: “I do not doubt that the major marathon contracts will be updated in future years (most likely once the bigger-named athletes are involved).
“But it needs to change to give athletes the chance to be financially stable. And they certainly should not be restricted as to what races they can or cannot do, purely because of a logo on their chest!"
McColgan adds silver in Women's 5000m Final at Commonwealth Games last summer (Getty Images)Race boss Hugh Brasher responded: “The London Marathon is attracting and continues to attract the greatest athletes in the world. To achieve this, we have balanced the needs of our athletes, our sponsors, our broadcast partners and the governing bodies to enable us to ensure the rewards to all parties are maximised.
“We understand the massive disappointment and emotional stress that getting injured puts on any athlete. We believe that face to face conversations are always the best way to understanding. We’ll be talking to Eilish later this weekend.”
To add to McColgan's angst, as she was about to reveal her fate on a Zoom call her concentration was broken by a knock on her front door from drug testers.
Netherlands' double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan (Getty Images)“2 lovely women just had to sit through my entire press call with me on the verge of tears,” she said. “Sport eh? Got to love it.”
McColgan captured the hearts of the nation at last summer’s Commonwealth Games with a 10,000 metres victory so dramatic and emotional that many considered it the highlight of the entire fortnight.
Her performance in Berlin was such that there was genuine excitement over what she might do up against holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw and double Olympic track champion Sifan Hassan.
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"It's frustrating because I can almost see the start line,” she sighed. “But there is always going to be another London Marathon."
Have you got London Marathon fever? Why not pop in to the ASICS London store to see their Exhibition for Eilish, which charts McColgan's journey from beginner runner to gold medallist. Visitors to the store will also be challenged to match Eilish’s record-breaking half marathon pace on a treadmill for as long as possible. The exhibition runs until Monday.
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