Eilish McColgan’s mother and coach Liz McColgan says comments on social media about her daughter’s body shape are “demeaning and abusive”.
Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan posted a video of herself training on a treadmill in preparation for her first London Marathon, prompting suggestions in comments that followed whether she had an eating disorder.
Former Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Liz McColgan hit back in a post on Instagram, saying: “We come in all shapes and sizes, they obviously do not understand that being an elite runner brings lower body fat but being an idiot and not fully understanding that your body needs to be fueled properly by eating or your body will not perform especially for marathons.”
Liz McColgan said her daughter, 34, was “strong enough” to shrug off the negative comments, but added she was concerned for younger athletes.
“Stop the jealousy and abuse of women athletes online by posting ridiculous and stupid comments as above,” Liz McColgan added.
“My concern as a parent is not for Eilish as she is of a strong enough character to deal with these people my concern is for other kids, athletes that are not so strong of character to deal with demeaning and abusive comments on their appearance.”
