The women’s London marathon, which has been billed as having the best field for a female distance race in history, will be without Eilish McColgan after the Scottish runner pulled out with a knee injury. Soon after withdrawing the 32-year-old also made the extraordinary claim that organisers had threatened to kick her out after a row about one of her sponsors.
“Trust me, I’ve tried,” the 32-year-old said, as she revealed that a combination of knee bursitis and a hamstring tear had interrupted her preparations. “It’s just got to the point where it’s not going to be feasible to run a marathon this weekend.
“This hasn’t been just the knee, there’s been a whole host of stuff that over the last three weeks have come together like a bad storm. The knee issue has been the final crack in the armour.”
The 32-year-old said that one of those factors had been that organisers had threatened to stop her racing, as she had wanted to wear the branding of a new sponsor, believed to be Science in Sport, on her vest.
In a social media post following her withdrawal, McColgan discussed her injury situation before adding: “I was then hit with a further roadblock having been told I wouldn’t be allowed to race, due to a sponsor clash between myself and a London Marathon’s sponsor.
“I do not doubt that the major marathon contracts will be updated in future years. But it needs to change to give athletes the chance to be financially stable. And they certainly should not be restricted as to what races they can or cannot do, purely because of a logo on their chest!”
In a statement, Hugh Brasher, the event director of the TCS London Marathon, which is also sponsored by Lucozade, said organisers understood “the massive disappointment and emotional stress that getting injured puts on any athlete” but did not address McColgan’s allegations directly.
“There was great excitement about her debut over the marathon distance and I know she would have had huge support from the crowds,” he said. “We look forward to welcoming her to London in the future – hopefully next April.
“We won’t be making any further comment today as we believe that face to face conversations are always the best way to understanding and we’ll be talking to Eilish later this weekend.”
McColgan also had to withdraw from last year’s race due to reactive hypoglycemia, which leads to reduced blood sugar levels. But her delayed debut over 26.2 miles in a high-class field, including the world record holder Brigid Kosgei, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir and last year’s winner Yalemzerf Yehualaw, had been highly anticipated, not least because the 32-year-old had been in such stunning recent form.
Last month McColgan smashed Paula Radcliffe’s 21-year-old British 10,000m record by running 30min 00sec in California – and then followed it up by chopping 43 seconds off her own British record at the Berlin half on 2 April, running 65:43.
However the Scot admitted she had suffered a hamstring issue in the final moments of that race in Berlin, and that her preparations were further hampered when a knee problem flared up again.
“One of the hardest parts is that I know how special the London Marathon is,” admitted McColgan. “To not be a part of it is sad. I’m not going to lie, I’ve shed a lot of tears in the last two days.”
The women’s field – which London race director Hugh Brasher has called “arguably the greatest ever assembled for a women’s distance race” – is still extraordinarily strong. Kosgei and Jepchirchir will square off for the first time since winning gold and silver in the Tokyo Olympics, while Yehualaw is a coming force having won last year – despite tripping during the race.
There are also two intriguing wildcards – the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan, who is running over 26.2 miles for the first time, and Rio 2016 10,000m gold medallist Almaz Ayana, who ran 2:17 last year despite barely racing for four years following injuries and the birth of her first child. In total there are six women who have run under 2:18 – a record for a single race – and all could win it.
The men’s race also promises to be fascinating with the brilliant 23-year-old Kelvin Kiptum looking to kick on after making the fastest marathon debut in history in Valencia in December, where he ran 2:01:53. He faces stiff competition from the reigning champion Amos Kipruto and Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, who many consider to be back to his best.
All three will be in the leading group who will aim to go through halfway in around 61:30, while Britain’s Mo Farah is expected to be in the second group that will attempt to reach 13.1 miles in 63 minutes in what will be his last major race before retiring.
Despite missing out for the second time, McColgan intends to be back – and to emulate her mum, Liz, who won in 1996. “It’s frustrating because I’m so close to it,” she said. “I can see it. But thankfully, the knee is nothing serious. Like it’s no bones, no cartilage, ligaments, joint – that’s all good. I’ve got a lot of inflammation in the fat pad to the side of my knee. But I just don’t want to put my long-term career at risk.”
