Eilish McColgan reveals she spent five days in hospital due to spine issue

Eilish McColgan has revealed she spent five days in hospital after suffering an issue with her spine shortly after pulling out of the World Championships with a separate injury.

The 32-year-old described her experience as a “week I’d rather forget” after her fortunes dipped further in the aftermath of being forced to concede defeat in her bid to overcome a knee injury and run in Budapest.

Scotland’s Commonwealth Games 10,000-metre champion wrote on Instagram: “I thought the silver lining of missing the World Championships was that I could spend the weekend with friends back in the UK, watching my old running pal Matthew marry his beautiful wife.

“Luckily, I managed to see them say ‘I do’… but that’s literally all I saw as my next 5 days were spent in hospital!

“I don’t know how nurses/doctors do their jobs. They are living saints as the hospitals are in utter chaos.. But to cut a long and pretty distressing story short, I’m finally OK.

“Ended up having a small procedure to seal a fluid leak in my spine and have been gradually feeling better every day since. I just have to be very patient.”

McColgan broke Paula Radcliffe’s British 10,000m record in March but missed the London Marathon in April.

She added: “I don’t know what the next few weeks will look like, but I’ll be taking my time with 2024 in the forefront of my mind!

“Thanks for the lovely messages. I read them all the other day once my eyes were working again!”