EILISH MCCOLGAN WINS BT SPORT ACTION WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD

Eilish McColgan (coach: Liz Nuttall, club: Dundee Hawkhill) was crowned BT Sport Action Woman of the Year at the broadcaster’s annual awards ceremony in London on Wednesday evening.

After a superb 2022 season which saw her come away with four medals from the major Championships and Games this summer, the Scottish athlete was deserving of the accolade. She also revised the UK all-time record books along the way during a truly remarkable year.

McColgan fought off competition from five other inspiring nominees, including Beth Mead (Football), Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix (Diving), Hannah Cockroft OBE (Athletics), Molly McCann (MMA) and Eve Muirhead OBE (Curling) to win the public vote and consolidate a historic year for women’s sport.

Few will forget the historic night at a packed-out Alexander Stadium as McColgan turned on the afterburners to outsprint Kenya’s Irine Cheptai on the final lap of the 10,000m to secure a sensational gold medal for Scotland, and match her mum’s [Liz Nuttall] achievement from 1986 and 1990.

A 5000m silver added to a stunning Commonwealth Games for the Dundee Hawkill athlete as she contributed event further to Team Scotland’s medal haul in Birmingham.

She added to her success in the UK as she returned just over a week later to seal two further medals at the European Championships in Munich.

Bronze in the 10,000m was followed by silver in the 5000m – just three days later – to secure more major medals to add to her CV.

Not only was McColgan excelling in terms of medals wins, but she has been breaking records and setting PBs all year.

She has beaten Paula Radcliffe’s British 10km record this year, clocking 30:19 in May at the Great Manchester 10km. This is in addition to her revising her personal bests in the 10,000m [30:19.02], the 5km [14:45] and the half marathon [66:26].