The Brit recounts the moment with Megan Keith at the Olympics, returning to the half-marathon and aiming to make her 26.2-mile debut in 2025.
Eilish McColgan has described her hug with Megan Keith at the end of the Olympic 10,000m final as a “special moment”.
The British pair stood alone on the track at the Stade de France as McColgan, who ran 31:20.51 for 15th place in Paris, waited for Keith to finish.
McColgan was competing in his fourth Olympics, a record number for a Scottish athlete, and found Keith, making his Games debut, having a tough time over 25 laps.
Cheered on by the ecstatic crowd, McColgan waited until the end and hugged his teammate as he crossed the finish line.
The pair’s image went viral, and McColgan chatted with them AW: Ahead of his return to the Big Half on Sunday (September 1), he says he didn’t even realize the public backlash was so great until his family told him.
Not only did the image embody the Olympic spirit, but both athletes had overcome enormous challenges to even get to that point.
Elish McColgan and Megan Keith (Getty)
Keith nursed an ankle injury in the weeks leading up to the Games, while McColgan himself traveled to Paris last September after back surgery on his knee.
McColgan, who wishes the Olympics were a few months away and believes her performance in Paris did not fully reflect her form, still insists “the start was my gold medal”.
Now attention is directed to the roads.
The Briton, unlike most others in the Games, essentially kicks off his season and prepares for a block of domestic races that includes the Big Half, the Great North Run (September 8) and the Vitality London 10,000 (September 22).
McColgan’s goal, ahead of his likely debut over 26.2 miles next year, is to “complete the half marathon”, his first at the distance since the start of last season, and which “is part of the mental process now to forget”. about the injury.”
Here’s our Q&A with McColgan below.
Elish McColgan trains at Font Romeu (Albin Durand)
Is there an element of “fear of the unknown” in the first half marathon in a year and a half?
Racing again makes all those months of hard training and recovery from surgery worth it. The half marathon is definitely the top of my distances at the moment. After the surgery, I didn’t run for almost six months and started from scratch. I knew I would run out of time to do a marathon this year and it would be difficult to even prepare for a 10,000m on the track. My form wasn’t quite where I like to be at the Olympics, but I’ve made huge improvements since the European Championships.
My training program is almost back to normal, but a few months ago it started all the time and was a bit of a nightmare. So there’s a bit of an unknown, even mental, in the Big Half. It’s been over a year and a half since I ran a half marathon and now forgetting about the injury is part of my mental process.
Why did you decide to do this block of Big Half, Great North Run and Vitality 10,000?
Coming back from surgery, you spend so many months rehabbing and training your absolute anxiety. What do you think is the reason during that time? It was amazing for me to go to the Olympics, but I run because I love it and I compete because it’s a passion. It’s a hobby and yes, a job too. Racing is the fun part.
Can I go now and train for four months to prepare for next year? Yes, I could. But I just feel that I deserve to enjoy the sport as well, and at this point in my career, running for Great Britain is not enough. It’s so much fun and I want a racing block after months of training, it puts me in a great position for next season. I’ll still have some time off in the winter, but at least it gives me a really good starting point and platform.
What is the definition of success for you over the next few races?
When I think back to my British records of 30:00.86 (10,000m) and 65:43 (half marathon), I know the training I put in to achieve them and I know it was no plain sailing. So there’s more there, and it’s a bit of a dangling carrot. I know I can go under 30 minutes and I also believe I can run a 64 minute half marathon. They keep me motivated. It might not happen this year, just because I’ve been resting, but it’s a big motivating factor next season.
If I can do well in this race against a strong British field, it will give me a great starting point. I can go “that’s the half marathon done” and get closer to those longer term goals.
Eilish McColgan in Berlin Half (SCC Events)
Since you’ve been out, what’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about yourself?
I probably really enjoy racing and I’m a competitor. I can raise my game when it comes to races and competitions, but I have to be fit to do it. Even now I’m in my 30s and as long as I’ve been playing sports I still believe I can really improve. Years ago you would have thought that people in their 30’s wouldn’t be able to do this, but I’ve seen glimpses of it and I’ve noticed signs in training. So that’s a big motivating factor for me.
When you do boring things like water jogging (like hours a week in the pool), you do it for a reason. You still believe there’s something out there, and it’s about moving on.
I look up to a lot of marathon runners like Sarah Hall, Kyra D’Amato and Sinead Diver. They are still competing at such a high level and that has given me a lot of confidence. My 1500m days are definitely over on the track, but there is certainly a future in the marathon.
With the 2025 Tokyo World Championships taking place in September, it makes mapping out the year even easier.
Undoubtedly. Maybe I will learn what I did in previous years and not put all my eggs in one basket. I was so determined to do the London Marathon and that was it. I would definitely like to do that race. the walk was incredible and I can’t even imagine what it would be like to actually do it. There is no doubt that it is top and priority.
However, I put so much pressure on myself and it felt like nothing else was happening but the London Marathon. I need to be a little more open minded so it doesn’t happen again and I realize there are other possibilities. One of the best things about road racing is that you have a little more time and choice. When you’re on the track, you get the Olympics and worlds. If you’re sick on the day of your competition, it’s game over and you’ve trained hard to get to that point.
If, for example, I missed the London Marathon, I can still go to Berlin, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo or New York. In addition, there are many other activities. So I have to realize that I will only do a marathon when my body is actually ready. I will do it quickly and correctly.
Since the marathon is top of the agenda for me next season, that might mean Worlds as well. If it fits my agenda, great, but if not, I have 10,000m as a backup plan. You’ve seen it with the likes of Sifan Hassan and Helen Obiri.
Eilish McColgan (Mark Shearman)
What did you think of Sifan Hasan becoming the Olympic marathon champion and also winning medals in the 5000m and 10,000m?
It is quite unclear. I’ve never run as fast as he did in an Olympic 10,000m final, and I could barely walk for the next two days. So I don’t understand how you can go 10,000 meters with a day of rest and then win a marathon. it’s madness.
His coach Tim (Rowberry) must know he can do it from training. When a coach notices something, sometimes he believes more than you. I’m sure he won’t even finish and is gearing up for another marathon this year. I doubt he’ll be going on vacation anytime soon.
How do you reflect on your Olympic experience in Paris?
If the Olympics were two or three months from now, I would be much happier and in a better place. I dropped out in Rome and then got sick, so the end of June games didn’t give me enough time to be competitive at the top. In a dream world I would come back in PB form and be at the front in the latter stages of the race.
I was so rusty too. I needed training because of so little time, so I was a little sad when it came to the Olympics. I didn’t have my usual 5km races to get my legs moving. I don’t think the result in Paris really reflected the form I was in. Maybe I could have come out stronger, and I actually think it would have suited me better. That’s what I did at the Commonwealth Games and when I set my British 10,000m record.
Mentally, I was still in defensive mode with my knee and I didn’t want to lead the Olympics after a year and a half out with an injury. It didn’t seem reasonable. In that sense, making the starting line was my gold medal, because for a long time we didn’t think it was possible.
Eilish McColgan (L) in Paris (Getty)
What was that amazing moment with Megan Keith at the end of the 10,000m?
I didn’t realize the moment went viral because I didn’t have my phone. It wasn’t until Michael (Rimmer) said that the picture was all over the internet. I remember crossing the border and wondering where and how Megan was. I knew he was having a rough day. I’ve been there many times where I’ve had a horrible DNF. So I was proud of Megan for not stopping because it’s the Olympics and nobody wants to go out.
When he crossed the line, he felt a sense of relief, he did it. He told me “are they cheering for me?” because the crowd noise was just insane. I remember looking around and all the other runners were gone. I didn’t realize until later what a special moment it was because we were both feeling the buzz.
I just said to Megan “the crowd is cheering for you” and she said “if I stopped then I wouldn’t be able to call myself an Olympian”. So he thought he had to finish the race and I totally respect that because I have the same mindset. It was a special moment and I just wanted to give him a big hug. Sport gives you a lot of highs and lows and I’m sure Megan will have many more moments in her career.
Check out our new AW podcast here…
» Subscribe to AW Magazine here
The post Eilish McColgan. “It was a special moment and I just wanted to hug him.” appeared first AW:.
