The Commonwealth Games faces another setback as Eilish McColgan, Scotland’s star athlete, has announced her withdrawal from the event. Scheduled to defend her 10,000m title on Monday, McColgan revealed on Saturday that she would not compete due to a toe injury sustained after the London Marathon.

In her statement, McColgan expressed her disappointment:

“Sadly, I won’t be competing at Glasgow 2026. After almost 10 weeks out following the London Marathon with my toe injury, it probably won’t come as a huge surprise.”
“The good news is I’m back running. The bad news is I’ve simply run out of time to get myself, and my toe, back into spikes.”

Despite her absence, she remains optimistic about her season:

“While these Games have come a few weeks too early for me, this isn’t the end of my season and I can’t wait to get back racing soon.”

McColgan's withdrawal adds to a growing list of British track and field stars missing the home Games:

• Katarina Johnson-Thompson (calf injury)
• Dina Asher-Smith
• Matt Hudson-Smith (400m Olympic silver medallist)
• Amber Anning (world indoor 400m champion)
• Keely Hodgkinson (prioritizing European Championships)
• Julien Alfred (St Lucia’s 100m Olympic champion)
• Letsile Tebogo (Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion)
• Summer McIntosh (favoring Pan Pacific Swimming Championships)

Elinor Middlemiss, the Team Scotland chef de mission, voiced support for McColgan’s decision, highlighting the significance of her previous 10,000m gold-medal victory in Birmingham:

“Eilish is a legend of Scottish sport... we completely support her decision not to return before she’s ready to compete at her very best.”