Dundee legend Liz McColgan has hit back at social media users criticising her daughter Eilish’s appearance.
Online trolls claimed Commonwealth Games hero Eilish, 34, has the eating disorder anorexia after she shared a video of her training on the treadmill.
One posted: “Just an anorexic girl on the treadmill.”
Another said: “Give that girl a burger!”
The claims prompted former 10,000m world champion Liz to share screenshots of said comments.
She branded them as “stupid”, explaining that elite runners have low body fat.
Liz said: “There are some very naturally tall slim women in the world as well as shorter plumper women.
“We come in all shapes and sizes.
“They obviously do not understand that being an elite runner brings lower body fat.
“But (are) 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 [sic].
“Stop the jealousy and abuse of women athletes online by posting ridiculous and stupid comments as above online.
Liz McColgan: ‘Eilish a strong enough character to deal’ with comments
“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.”
Meanwhile, others claimed that Eilish’s training regime, which helped the Dundonian become the first Scottish track and field athlete to compete in four Olympic Games last year, was “not healthy” and that she had anorexia.
In response to one comment claiming she had anorexia, Eilish said: “A person with anorexia wouldn’t be able to do the training U do, nor make four Olympic Games.
“I think you need to actually research how serious anorexia is.”
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist also posted a response to the comments on her Instagram story.
Re-posting some of the responses, she said: “Being an elite, female athlete is wild.
“Some people have no comprehension of how much you have to fuel your body to do this type of training!
“Bunch of clowns!”
Eilish McColgan receives ‘constant abuse’
These most recent negative comments come after Eilish shared in January that she received “constant abuse” aimed at her appearance.
At the time, she said that Facebook users had characterised her as “skinny and frail”.
She added: “I am just getting constant abuse about the normal really.
“Being skinny, too skinny according to some people.
“I hate when they throw around the word anorexic as well because that is a serious disease.
“People are hospitalised from anorexia, they do not make four Olympic games, they do not break British records or European records or represent their country over almost 15 years.”
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