Eilish McColgan and Laura Muir have no fewer than seven Olympic appearances between them – and multiple medals across international championship events.
When our Young People’s Forum Conference gathered in March to consider the theme ‘Inspiring the Next Generation’, Eilish and Laura helped us with video content on some key messages for young (and older) athletes.
We’re delighted now to highlight that advice via a short ‘Learn from our Olympians’ series.
Today, we start with Eilish and key advice on body image, sleep and learning more about your training . . .
Learning curve: YPF Conference hits the right notes
Eilish McColgan has competed for Team GB at no fewer than four Olympics – a record for any Scot in track, field and marathon.
It has been quite a journey and thankfully Eilish isn’t shy about sharing the benefit of her experience.
One of the areas our YPF are looking at over the current two-year programme is ‘Athlete Health’ taking in sensitive issues like Eating Disorders and Body Image.
Eilish has been outspoken in the past on online trolling about her and has important advice on this, the importance of sleep and being confident.
‘I’m often asked about body image,’ said Eilish.
‘It is something that I’ve always had to deal with particularly more so over the last couple of years in my career as I’ve had a bigger social media following.
‘When I won the Commonwealth Games 10,000m gold (at Birmingham 2022), people started to see my name a little bit more in competitions and see my name online. Unfortunately, with that came a lot of negativity around body image.
‘In some ways it is part and parcel from being on social media, accepting that there will be fantastic support and encouragement – but also a very small minority who ruin it for others.
‘A lot of the comments are regarding my appearance and the way my body looks – rather than focusing on performance and actually what my body can do. So I am very vocal about that. I speak out because I know the importance of fueling my body correctly.
‘I would not be where I am today having competed at four Olympics if I didn’t look after my body, fueling it the right way and just being good to it over the years. I think that’s really important to remember.
Yes, I’m lean. I’ve always been skinny. That’s just my natural body shape. You…
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