Liz McColgan has hailed daughter Eilish’s Commonwealth Games heroics after the Dundee star ran the race of her life to clinch 10,000m gold.
In one of the games’ most incredible moments, the 31-year-old held off Kenya’s Irene Cheptai to win her first major title.
Former world champ Liz – who won Commonwealth gold in 1986 and 1990 – fought back tears as she spoke to the BBC in the aftermath of Eilish’s Birmingham 2022 triumph.
The 58-year-old, flying in from her base in Qatar, was trackside and bursting with pride.
She said: “For me as a mother, to witness your daughter winning is amazing and to win it in the same event that I won it in.
“She’s just run the race that I always knew she was capable of running.
“It was amazing to watch, it was very nerve-wracking to watch.
“It has been a long time coming and she put it together tonight, and I’m just really really pleased because I know the hard work that she does. And her support team.
“Her dad’s here tonight. Uncles, people here that don’t normally get to watch her running and it’s just fantastic.
“It’s came together and she’s won.”
Olympic legends Jessica Ennis-Hill, Michael Johnson and Denise Lewis said they were blown away by Eilish’s performance at the Alexander Stadium.
Ennis-Hill said: “We were screaming for Eilish. That was incredible to watch.”
Lewis added: “It’s been fantastic to watch her growth. You can imagine what she’s gone through, with her mum’s achievements in the background over the years.
“She’s had to carve her own pathway and put her own stamp on her career.
“She had so many attempts at finding this moment.”
Elite mentality
Johnson raved about Eilish’s mentality in the latter stages of the race.
He said: “She had to dig deep.
“Eilish always looks like she’s working hard but she didn’t give up.
“We’ve lived this with her, the ups and downs. She summed it up [in her post-race interview], bouncing around from event to event.
“When you’re the son or daughter of a legend, people expect you to do something.
““This is a great victory.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those on Twitter saluting the Dundonian, who is coached by mum Liz and partner Michael Rimmer.
She said: “Every medal is special but what a tear in the eye to see Eilish McColgan match her mum’s 1986 gold.”
Friend and team-mate Laura Muir wrote: “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh @EilishMccolgan yasssssss!!!”
Conversation