Eilish McColgan has put in a career-best performance to break the British 5000m record set by Paula Radcliffe 17 years ago.
McColgan hit her stride at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo, racing round in 14 minutes 28.55 seconds, beating Radcliffe’s best of 14:29.11.
The time was 18 seconds faster than McColgan’s previous personal best, which had been the Scottish record since October of last year.
McColgan finished fourth in the race in Oslo, finishing behind Kenya’s Hellen Obiri (14:26.38), Ethiopia’s Fantu Worku (14:26.80) and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi of Kenya (14:28.24), raising hopes of a medal in Tokyo this summer. McColgan is one of 12 Scots in Team GB heading to the Olympic Games later this month.
The record-breaking feat brought praise from Radcliffe, who applauded McColgan for beating her long-held mark.
McColgan’s GB teammate Laura Muir tweeted her congratulations, while the runner’s mother, former world champion 10,000m runner Liz McColgan tweeted: “Oh my days we knew it was on!!!! @EilishMccolgan the fastest ever British 5k runner 14:28.55 ….. proud mama proud coach”.
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