Scottish runner Eilish McColgan has vowed to return stronger when she eventually makes her London Marathon debut after pulling out of Sunday’s race because of a knee problem.

Event organisers announced on Thursday evening that McColgan had delayed her travel to London to give her the best chance of competing, and would not be attending a scheduled pre-event media conference on Friday morning.

The 32-year-old Scot – who won her first major title in the 10,000m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games – had hoped for good news on the fitness front, but eventually admitted defeat after not being able to shake off the issue in time to run.

“I was sort of hopeful to be honest,” she said on Friday. “I have had a bit of knee bursitis (inflammation) back in February, March time and it was something I could run through, it was painful, but I could run through this.

“With this, I’ve tried, trust me, but it has just got to the point where it is not going to be feasible to run a marathon this weekend.

“There are a few factors that have come together like a bad storm. A whole host of things in the last three weeks have built up and this knee thing has been the final crack in the armour.”

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McColgan had planned to run the 2022 London Marathon last October before being forced to withdraw due to a medical issue.

The problem was identified as rebound hypoglycemia, a common occurrence among endurance athletes which leads to reduced blood sugar levels and not enough glucose in the blood to meet the body’s needs.

McColgan, whose mother Liz won the London Marathon in 1996, said: “I’ve shed a lot of tears in the last two days. It feels tougher because I’ve missed two now, for two entirely different reasons.

“I know how special the London Marathon is. I’ve been there with my mum, watched Paula Radcliffe on TV.

“I’ve had so many people messaged me to say they are running or they are coming out to watch it, raising money for charity.

“There are so many incredible stories around London and this weekend, so to not be a part of it, having trained so hard to be there, it is sad.”

“But all elite athletes go through this. I hope one day I will be on that start line. I know I can run a good marathon and I know one day it will be in London.”

McColgan’s fitness problem started at the Berlin half-marathon in April with a hamstring tear similar to what she had suffered in 2017.

“Initially I thought ‘that’s it London’s out’, but we managed to rehab it,” she said. “We did push it and I felt confident then about London again.

“I have had a few disagreements with London Marathon themselves regarding contractual side of things, and I will speak about that another time.”

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McColgan confirmed there was “nothing serious” in her knee injury, with no bone, cartilage, or ligaments problem, but an impingement in the fat pad causing pain.

As well as the physical demands on her body, McColgan also had a lot to think about regarding the financial impact of not being able to run in London.

“That’s obviously something that does play on your mind too, as a professional athlete, this is my job at the end of the day, that’s how I earn a living,” she said.

“So that’s probably more of the pressure side of it with regards to the pressure you put on yourself. Just even prize money, all of those things, it all just disappears.

“For a lot of my sponsors too this is the biggest race of the year. They want me to be on that start line. I haven’t sat down and worked out the numbers, I don’t really want to do that either.

“It’s part and parcel of what we have to go through, but it 100 per cent does add to that the mental pressure.

“I have to just be sensible about it and know that this is for the longer term, take a little bit (of time), skip this weekend, let my knees heal and get back to being fully 100 per cent healthy again.

“Then I am sure when a big opportunity arises, hopefully I will be ready for it again.”