"Stop the jealousy & abuse of women athletes"-Olympian Eilish McColgan's mother Liz lashes out at blatant body shaming directed towards her daughter

Eilish McColgan recently received negative comments about her physique after posting a training video for the London Marathon. Fans speculated she had an eating disorder. The Olympian's mother and coach, Liz McColgan, condemned the remarks as ignorant and emphasized that elite runners naturally have lower body fat due to their sport's demands.

Liz also warned that such criticism could harm young athletes struggling with body image. While her daughter is strong enough to ignore it, others may not. The champion's mother urged people to make uninformed judgments about female athletes' bodies.

Reflecting on the criticism, Liz McColgan said:

"Stop the jealousy and abuse of women athletes online by posting ridiculous and stupid comments as above" (mirror.co.uk)

She further added:

"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."

Eilish McColgan has been dealing with body shaming for over ten years. She first noticed it during the 2012 London Olympics when people criticized her appearance.

---

Eilish McColgan hits back at online body-shaming

Eilish McColgan at the 2024 Olympic Games-Paris - Source: Getty

Eilish McColgan, in May 2022, talked about online body shaming and how it can hurt young athletes. She said that while she mostly ignores such comments, sometimes she responds to raise awareness. She wanted people to understand that athletes have different body shapes.

Reflecting on the critics, in her Instagram post, the gold medalist added a video, hitting back at the comments with her athletics photos. She also wrote:

"Getting into athletics was one of the best things I ever did. I gained confidence in myself and my body through sports! Instead of focusing on what it looked like, I focused on what it could do! Now, I'm extremely proud of my body - going from strength to strength every year. I've been in this sport for almost a decade and it's testament to looking after myself and fueling correctly. I hope it's a message that younger athletes can take on board!"

Eilish McColgan represented Great Britain in four Olympic Games, including the 2012 London, 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo, and 2024 Paris. She also holds the fastest European time in the 10-mile road race. She clinched four European Championship medals, including silver in the 5000m (2018),10,000m meters (2022), and bronze in the 5000m.