Eiliish McColgan, the Commonwealth Games champion, has revealed that she has had to put her wedding planning on hold as she prepares for a “big year of sport”. The 35-year-old athlete, who announced her engagement to fellow athlete Michael Rimmer in May, just days after competing in her first London marathon, said that the couple had originally intended to tie the knot in 2026, but their plans for the big day are currently “non-existent”.
Speaking to The Saturday Show on BBC Radio Scotland, McColgan said that getting engaged was exciting, but “life has just taken over” and it’s “hard when you’re a professional athlete”. The Dundonian, who kicked off her year with a new women’s 10km record in Valencia, said that she has now decided to find a wedding planner while she balances her busy schedule and continues to “live out of a suitcase”.
McColgan, who won two medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, said that she wants to get married in Scotland surrounded by friends and family, but she will not be roping in her mum, Liz, to help out. The former world 10,000m champion has been “pestering” her daughter, asking if she has looked at dresses or done anything, but McColgan said that she wants to do some of it herself and not let her mum take over.
Despite the challenges of balancing her sporting commitments and wedding planning, McColgan said that she is excited for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Glasgow in just six months’ time. The four-time Olympian said that if the Games were anywhere else in the world, she wouldn’t be running at them this year, but the chance to compete in a home event is something she couldn’t turn down.
As she looks to the future, McColgan has her sights set on breaking the former world champion Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 British marathon record of 2:15:25. The runner, who finished eighth in her first competitive marathon in London last year, said that Radcliffe’s time “seems insane” to her, but she is determined to “dream big” and see what she can achieve.