Scotland poster girl McColgan to miss Commonwealth title defence after foot fracture

ByRichard Winton

BBC Sport Scotland

Scotland's Eilish McColgan will miss out on the chance to defend her Commonwealth Games 10,000m title in her home country after failing to recover sufficently from a foot fracture.

McColgan, 35, emulated mother Liz by roaring to gold in Birmingham four years ago in one of the most iconic moments of that event.

In an injury-scarred spell since then, she transitioned to road racing but committed to returning to the track so she could compete at a second home Games in Glasgow after doing the steeplechase in 2014.

However, battling through a gruesome toe injury in April's London Marathon led to an undetected stress fracture.

And, despite cautious optimism that she had recovered enough to race on Monday at Scotstoun, McColgan and her team have taken the decision to withdraw.

"Sadly, I won't be competing at Glasgow 2026," she said in a statement. "After almost 10 weeks out, it probably won't come as a huge surprise.

"The good news is I'm back running. The bad news is I've simply run out of time to get myself, and my toe, back into spikes.

"Having started the year stronger than ever, I know the fitness is there but having only taken my first run outdoors a couple of weeks ago, the clock was always against me.

"I'll be in Glasgow all week cheering on Team Scotland and wish everyone on the team the best of luck at the Games."

It was confirmation of news we all suspected might come.

McColgan was always intending to give herself every chance of making it to the start line in Glasgow, and every chance of competing in front of a home crowd.

Mum Liz was cautiously optimistic speaking to BBC Sport earlier in the week but, after some final training sessions, they have decided it is just too much.

It robs the Games of another big name, and Team Scotland of a poster girl. But, in reality, given she has moved to the road since winning gold in Birmingham, McColgan was unlikely to be a medal contender anyway at Scotstoun.

But that won't allay the disappointment among those hoping to see her run.