|
Interview Copyright/Media Notice
If you would like permission to reproduce extracts from any of these interviews please click
here
for conditions:
|
Interviews
|
|
 |
Liz McColgan - Athlete, Olympic Medalist
Britain's most successful female distance runner, Liz has won nine medals. Liz is from Dundee and was a Brownie."Live your dream, do not let anyone tell you that you cannot. Never give up &, importantly enjoy what you are doing."
The freedom of the countryside. As a distance runner Carnoustie, and the East Coast are one of the most scenic places to run. I am very lucky as I have a choice of beaches, golf courses, and countryside.
My favourite medal has to be the world 10000m gold medal. It's my favourite because on a very hot humid night in Tokyo I was the best 10000m runner in the world. I won against all the best runners from all over the world and not a lot of people can say that.
My advice to young sportswomen is to live your dream, do not let anyone tell you that you cannot. Never give up and most importantly enjoy what you are doing.
To keep myself motivated, I just used to imagine that my rivals were training longer and harder and were out to beat me, so for me to be the best in the world I had to train harder than everyone else. So I used to run around 140 -145 miles a week.
My favourite badge was Knitting badge, the reason being that I enjoyed learning how to knit from an old aunt of mine. I knitted a very colourful scarf for the badge.
I admire a lady called Grete Waitz, she is from Norway. She was the world record holder for marathons when I was a child then later on when I met her in America she became my coach. We had a very special relationship, which was pretty amazing.
Women have to be strong willed and determined to succeed. You need an inner belief in what you are capable of achieving.
I am happiest at home in Carnoustie, with my husband and five kids.
I suppose an apt song for me would have to be "Keep On Running" by The Spencer Davis Group, the reason being I started running at the age of eleven. I retired at 36, and to this day I still have to get out and run. I still enjoy it the same as when I was eleven, I am never bored with it.
I am Patron of Leukemia Research;
I think it's a disease that touches everyone. Most families have dealt with a family member
or have known of someone who has had the disease. It affects children and adults alike, so we
need to find a cure and quickly.
My other charity is Diabetes UK as my five year old son was diagnosed two years ago with Diabetes
and is now insulin dependent.
To find out more about Liz please see www.lizmccolgan.co.uk
Go to main inspirational women page