Eilish McColgan: Running for body positivity

Eilish McColgan is a champion on the athletics track, but more than that, she is a passionate champion of just causes off track too.

One of those is in challenging body shaming online. It’s an area in which the Commonwealth 10,000m gold medallist is a strong advocate of body positivity.

Standing at 174cm in height, the three-time Olympian sometimes cuts a distinctive figure among her distance running rivals. And she has always been conscious of her relative tallness to her peers. But she has been taken aback by some of the online attacks.

“As a kid you don't really think too much of it,” explains the articulate Scot to Olympics.com ahead of the 2023 London marathon. “At school I knew I looked a little bit different to all the other girls, I was obviously a little bit unconfident.”

It was at the London 2012 Olympics when McColgan first became acutely aware of the issue of body shaming. “It wasn't actually me, but I remember going on Twitter with some of the athletes in the village and we were just typing in peoples’ names to see what people were saying about them,” she recalls.

“Every time it was a female athlete, it was always about by the way they looked, their body shape, their appearance. And there was one athlete that we wrote – I won’t say their name - but it was horrible.

“It was really, really brutal. I remember thinking I hope that person doesn't ever look at it. Back then, obviously nobody really knew who I was, so I didn't get any abuse.”

Eilish McColgan on speaking out against online abuse

But as she became a fixture in international athletics, so her profile increased and the abuse began.

“As my social media following has grown, it just became more and more and more constant. Things like ‘I'm underweight’, ‘I look anorexic’, ‘I'm unhealthy’, ‘I need to eat more’.

“It's just peoples’ opinions, but what really frustrates me is when some people say like I'm a bad role model to children. It's just a complete opposite of that. I fuel my body correctly, I look after my body. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs.

“This is my natural body shape. I run a lot, but the same time I've been this shape since I was 12, 13, 14 years old. I'm never ever going to have a different body shape, so there's loads of young girls and loads of young boys that have the same body shape as me.”

“So, I think it's important that I do speak out every now and again and actually call people out on that. There are people that look like me, people that are healthy, fully functioning humans that look like me and that's totally okay.”

McColgan has grown up in the sport’s spotlight. Her mother Liz was an Olympic silver and World gold medallist over 10,000m, as well as the winner of major marathons in London, New York, and Tokyo.

And when Eilish won 10,000m gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, it attracted international media attention as she uniquely followed her mother’s footsteps, Liz having won the same title in 1986 and 1990.

Eilish’s father Peter was also an athlete of some repute, representing Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the World Athletics Championships.

Eilish McColgan - It's important that we try and instil confidence into young women

Eilish McColgan's long-time partner Michael Rimmer is also a three-time Olympian, competing at the Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016 Olympics over 800m on the track, so, she is not naïve to the attention being an international sportsperson can attract.

But she is also not infallible and - guided by her partner Rimmer – she now takes a more cautious approach when it comes to social media.

“I'd say it probably is less now (the exposure to abuse), because social media has allowed you to put in certain key phrases or words so that you don't see it,” she explains.

“It was actually my boyfriend who said ‘you can't keep getting all these like negative messages to you every single day. I know you think you're alright and it doesn't bother you, but you never know when you're just constantly reading the stuff that maybe it will start affecting you?’”

But even if any abuse does creep through, she knows the accusations are groundless.

Ever the professional athlete, the double European Championship medallist, has the science to support her. “I'm 174 cm in height and my weight never really goes above probably 54kg and I would never ever really go below maybe 50 to 53kg.

“But for me the biggest thing is bone density for athletes. For women that are obviously not getting enough energy, it affects your bone density. But every bone density scan I've ever had, is higher than average, so I’m not a risk of osteoporosis.”

Still, she also empathises with the plight of young women who might be experiencing insecurity over their bodies.

“I can see how this generation of young women coming through, why they do go and get their lips done, and they go and get their boobs done, and they go and get the bum implants,” she says,

“It’s because they see Love Island on the TV and all these women are so voluptuous and curvy like the Kardashians, you see so much cosmetic surgery that you think ‘I need to look like that in order to be attractive’.

“And if people want to do that - by all means - for their confidence, do it. But I just don't think it's necessary, I think it's more important that we try and instil confidence into young women. It's totally fine to look the way they look, you are attractive the way you are and someone will love you just the way you are.

“You don't have to go through all those procedures in order to be loved, finding that confidence in yourself is far more important. So, for me, that's a key thing going into schools. And more specifically, when it's young women that are athletes and runners, it's really trying to educate. Yes, I look skinny, I look lean, but I am healthy.”

It is that self-assurance and steely attitude that ensure McColgan is ready both in body and mind for the challenges to come.

Eilish McColgan is due to compete at the London Marathon on 23 April. Find more distance running coverage on our track and field athletics page here.