Eilish McColgan: The long journey to gold

In this final episode of season 14, we talk to Eilish McColgan, an incredible distance athlete.

Eilish holds the European record for 10,000 on the road, as well as British records at 5,000m and 10,000m on the track and road, and in the half marathon. With European medals indoors and outdoors on the track, Eilish represented Team GB at 3 Olympics in London, Rio and Tokyo. 

In 2022 Eilish became Commonwealth Games Champion over 10,000 metres, a feat that repeated her mum's victory 36 years earlier and broke the Commonwealth Games record.

A few days later, she was back to take a silver medal over 5,000m. And then, in 2023, Eilish broke her own British Half Marathon Record and became the first British Woman to win the Berlin Half Marathon. She also eclipsed Paula Radcliffe's UK record, running 10k in 30 minutes.

In this episode we explore Eilish’s incredible sporting journey and her pathway to success. We hear about how severe injuries led her to dramatically adapt training, how she’s embraced social media and become an outspoken advocate for body positivity in sport and the challenges athletes face today around sports sponsorships.

Thank you for Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery grant.

Game On is a powerful documentary that explores the recent growth in women’s sport and its impact across society. 

Available on NETFLIX, the film addresses the controversial issues and myths that have prevented gender equality in sport, why things are now changing, and what the future holds. 

You can watch ‘Game On’ on Netflix now: https://www.netflix.com/watch/81678387