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Comments on social media body-shaming Britain’s Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan are “demeaning and abusive”, says her mother and coach Liz.<\/b><\/p>\n
Scot Eilish, who is training for her first London Marathon next month, posted a video on Saturday showing her running on a treadmill, but some viewers questioned if she had an eating disorder.<\/p>\n
Highlighting some messages in a subsequent social media post, Eilish wrote: “Some people have no comprehension of how much you have to fuel your body to do this type of training. Bunch of clowns.”<\/p>\n
Liz, an Olympic 10,000m silver medallist and former world champion, replied to that post, saying: “Stop the jealousy and abuse of women athletes online by posting ridiculous and stupid comments.<\/p>\n
“My concern as a parent is not for Eilish as she is of a strong enough character to deal with these people.<\/p>\n
“My concern is for other kids, athletes that are not so strong of character, to deal with demeaning and abusive comments on their appearance.”<\/p>\n
In 2019 Eilish responded to social media comments about her weight by saying:<\/a> “Go body-shame elsewhere.”<\/p>\n British 1500m champion Neil Gourley also condemned the “horrible behaviour” directed towards Eilish, and added that she was a “role model” for calling it out.<\/p>\n “I’ve been fortunate enough in my career to not receive a whole lot of that side of things. There is a misogynistic element to it and it really is an embarrassing thing to have to look at,” Gourley told BBC Scotland.<\/p>\n If you, or someone you know, has been affected by issues raised in this article, please visit <\/i>BBC Action Line<\/a> to find information on organisations that can help.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n