Liz McColgan MBE, World
& Commonwealth Games Gold medallist submitted her own memory to the Replay Track & Field website in support of the network
"To receive the gold medal, in
Scotland, in front of my home supporters, with that atmosphere was the absolute
pinnacle of my career. The feelings I had that night were amazing and were
never really replicated throughout the rest of my career. I never had that
astounding support and atmosphere in any other race I subsequently ran. In some
ways it was the beginning of the end because nothing ever really live up to
that moment again."
Liz won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships and a silver medal over the same distance at the 1988 Olympic Games. She was also a two-time gold medalist over the distance at the Commonwealth Games, as well as winning the New York City Marathon, Tokyo Marathon and London Marathon. Having won silver in the 3,000 metres at the World Indoor Championships in 1989, she became the only Scot to successfully defend a Commonwealth title at the 1990 games in Aukland, New Zealand, when she took the gold for the 10,000 metres again, as well as taking bronze at the 3,000 metres.In 1991, she won gold in the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan and in November of that year at the New York City Marathon, her very first marathon, she won with a time of 2:27.23, beating the record for a debut marathon by three minutes.In 1992, Liz won the inaugural World Half Marathon Championships, where she also helped the British team claim the silver medal in the team competition.
Liz appeared on This Is Your Life and was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1991. She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1992 and inducted to the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. Later that year, she won the Tokyo International Women's Marathon. In 1996 she was first to break the tape at the London Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 54 seconds. Having retired from competitive running, she now coaches young athletes, both at the Liz McColgan Health Club and Physiotherapy Centre in Carnoustie, Angus and at the Institute of Sport and Exercise at Dundee University. www.lizmccolgan.co.uk
Read Liz`s Replay Track and Field Memory of winning Commonwealth Gold in Edinburgh
