Eilish McColgan is "absolutely over the moon" to be representing Team GB at a record-breaking fourth Olympic Games this summer.
The 33-year-old had been sidelined through injury over the past year, which resulted in her missing the London Marathon and World Championships.
But the Dundee-born athlete is back to full fitness and has chosen to compete in the 10,000m event in Paris.
Joining the Scottish contingent at the upcoming Olympics in Paris will be Laura Muir, who previously won a silver medal at the Tokyo Games. Muir, a seasoned Olympian, will be competing in the Women's 1500m event.
Additionally, several athletes are making their debut Olympic appearances, including Megan Keith, Nick Percy, and Neil Gourley. Team GB also features the familiar faces of Josh Kerr, Jemma Reekie, Jake Wightman, and Nicole Yeargin, all of whom have secured their places on the Olympic roster.
"I'm absolutely over the moon to be selected for my fourth Olympic Games," McColgan said in a video message via Scottish Athletics.
"The last 16 months have been incredibly challenging so it's made it a little bit sweeter knowing that I will get to represent the country once more.
"It is a huge honour as always to represent the nation but even more so, a big privilege to become the first ever Scottish athlete, male or female across track and field, to represent at four games.
Read more:
-
Successful Euros initiative to be rolled out in all UEFA competitions
-
Celtic vs Rangers fixture among SPFL Premiership kick-off reshuffle
"It is no mean feat so I'm incredibly proud of that achievement and I'm just really, really excited now to get back to work for these next five weeks.
"Even more incredible to be on the start line along side another fellow Scot in Megan (Keith). I'm sure the two of us will do our absolute best to make the country proud."
Shortly after the announcement, she also took to Facebook and wrote an emotional message to her followers.
"4 X OLYMPIAN!!!," it read. "It is honestly a dream come true to announce I'll be competing at my FOURTH Olympic Games in Paris!
"The first Scottish athlete (in the history of GB track & field) to reach four!
"The last 16 months have been some of the toughest of my career but I have never stopped fighting.
"Olympic cycles are tooooough, but never giving up is something I'm most proud of.
"Fighting back from foot surgery to make London 2012 and ankle surgery before Rio 2016 was challenging to say the least! Tokyo 2021 prep was good other than catching COVID 100x like the rest of the world. And now for Paris 2024, I've been battling my way back from knee surgery. (Clearly my body doesn't like Olympic cycles because between those years - things are relatively plain sailing!)
Read more:
"I think I'm now one of the oldest on the Team GB athletics squad... which is pretty scary! 800m prodigy Phoebe Gill was only 5 years old when I raced in London 2012. Absolutely maaaad!
"But joking aside, it's a huge honour to line up in the 10,000m - alongside fellow Scot Megan. Jess fully deserved to be alongside us too, but she's taking the time to prioritise her health which is far more important than any race!
"Thank you again to everyone for their support and kind words - I always make the effort to read them! And to my sponsors for sticking with me through it all.
"Team McColgan - can we make it to 5!? LA 2028?! #keepbelieving."
Team GB Chef de Mission, Mark England OBE, said, “The Games are within touching distance now and I am delighted to welcome a hugely talented and exciting track and field squad to Team GB today.
“The group boasts a very strong mix of Olympic, World and European medallists. I am confident that their experience will a source of inspiration and support not only to the 35 debutants who have also made the team, but to the wider Team GB too.
“Athletics fans were treated to some outstanding breakthrough performances at the British Championships in Manchester last week which has given us a glimpse of what we can expect next month in Paris.”
Read more:
- Andy Murray honoured on Centre Court as end of Wimbledon career nears
- Celtic player addresses Rangers' stadium woes
Team Leader, Paula Dunn, added: “Congratulations to all the athletes and their support networks on their selection for Paris 2024. It is a huge moment in their careers, and they have all worked incredibly hard to get into this position.
“I wish all the selected athletes well in their last few weeks of preparation and we will continue to ensure that they can optimise and maximise all the support required leading into Paris.
“It’s a brilliant mix of athletes who have multiple global medals alongside some amazing young talent that has only just broken through this season. We saw a number of athletes step up at this weekend’s Microplus UK Athletics Championships with some exceptional performances across the board to get those standards.
“We know from this we have a high quality team for Paris next month who know how to produce their best when it counts and will be challenging for medals and those Olympic final spots. It’s an exciting time for everyone, and we’re incredibly proud of the team named today.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here