Athletic Zones

01/08/2026

t was so nice to see my daughter, Eilish, at the Commonwealth Games, taking on her role with the Commonwealth Games broadcast team. It’s a really good experience, especially when you’re dealing with injury, to try something new and to be brave enough to step outside your comfort zone, because there always has to be life after athletics.

There are so many opportunities within the sporting world, whether it’s journalism, coaching, physiotherapy, psychology, or any number of other roles. I think it’s really important that athletes are given the opportunity to expand their horizons and consider what life could look like after sport.

At the end of the day, sport is incredibly tough. One injury could mean the last race you ever run. That’s why I thought it was very brave of Eilish to take the plunge and gain experience working in television—not just covering athletics, but also providing insight into other sports.

I’m a bit biased, of course, but I think she did really well. Hopefully, if it’s something she enjoys, she’ll have the chance to gain more experience in the future and perhaps take it even further.

It’s so important to give athletes opportunities to explore different areas of sport and build that experience, because you never know what the future holds.

Eilish McColgan
BBC Sport
ASICS
commonwealth games glasgow 2026

08/06/2026

LTAD (Long-Term Athlete Development) is an important framework for all sports, and developing athleticism is essential for every athlete.

It has been a pleasure to be invited to work with U14 tennis player Mila Sleiman. Having the opportunity to support such a talented and developing young athlete in Doha, Qatar, is a real privilege.

Mila’s motivation, dedication, and work ethic are exceptional for someone so young, and her efforts were deservedly rewarded with the Qatar National U14 title this weekend.

Huge congratulations to her tennis coach, and thank you for working alongside me to support Mila’s fitness, agility, and strength & conditioning development. A special thank you also goes to her family for the incredible support they provide, allowing her to pursue her dreams.

Success in sport is always a team effort, and this is another great example that teamwork really does make the dream work.

Congratulations, Mila — a fantastic achievement, and I’m excited to see what the future holds. 🎾🏆👏

10/05/2026

Working with young athletes always makes me think what do they deem as success? My 12 year old self

Success… what do we really define as success?

It’s not always about winning the gold medal.
It’s not always about standing on the top podium or being the best in the world.

Success is being present in the moment.
Success is fighting through the hard days when nobody sees the struggle.
It’s about continuing to show up, even when life feels heavy.
It’s about believing in yourself when others doubt you.
It’s about discipline, sacrifice, pain, and persistence.

Coming from a tough background doesn’t mean your future is limited.
Your circumstances do not define your destination.
Every setback, every failure, every knock in life is an opportunity to grow stronger.

When you fail, success is found in getting back up.
Learning from the loss.
Refusing to quit.
Refusing to let the struggle break you.

To every young athlete out there, especially those struggling to stay motivated in track and field — keep going.
Some days will test you mentally and physically, but champions are built in those moments.

Success is stepping onto that start line with courage…
and having the heart to reach the finish line no matter how you got there.

11/01/2026

Tough three years of hard work, self-belief, and putting yourself on the line every single time. Never giving up, even when things weren’t going your way. Staying focused, staying consistent with your training, and always working to be better than you were the day before.

You’ve dealt with so many uninformed, uneducated social-media trolls and online critics along the way — but in the end, the results always speak louder than the noise.

Let the performances do the talking. The road tells the truth.

30/12/2025

05/12/2025

Great training session in Dubai with Eilish today. The speed is starting to come through nicely ahead of next week’s race, and it feels wonderful to be back holding the stopwatch again.”

24/09/2025

Young athlete development

“Learn to walk before you can run”
Heard this old saying many a time through out the years
Running is a simple technique one foot in front of the other? Is it not ?
But what if this simple technique is never mastered properly in the younger years athlete. Why is it never taught ?
Some coaches of today look more to the V02 max and lactic buffer, building elaborate training sessions.
In younger athletes to prevent injury and enhance running technique we need to be going back to basics with younger stars of the future.
Look at improving strength in feet and ankle, balance with movement skills , after all this is the structure that will need to support all the intense training and miles as they develop into adult runners Investments of basic skills at younger ages can bring bigger rewards moving forward. Introduction at primary school before specialising into any sport.
Bare foot drills, balance and strength for ankle and feet
I see so many younger athletes injured and drop out of the sport. We need to focus on them as kids and then help develop into stronger fitter faster adult athletes.
Below is a 9 year old girl who struggled to balance on one foot but is starting to learn to control her movements. Still lots work to be done !

23/09/2025

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23/09/2025

Girls only track and field training at education city