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Three years after the disappointment of failing to win the gold medal
at the 1988 Seoul Olympics Liz McColgan returned to the Far East to
contest the other 'major' - the world championships. The venue was
Tokyo, where in 1964 Ann Packer became Britain's first female track gold
medalist at an Olympic Games. It was now Liz McColgan's turn herself
to become a British 'first' in the capital of Japan. By winning the
10,000 metres she became the first British woman to capture a world
athletics title on the track. In conditions far removed from those of
her native Scotland the lass from Dundee raced away from the field to
win in 31 minutes 14.31 seconds, beating China's Huandi Zhong (31min
35.08 secs) and Xiuting Wang (31 mins 35.99 secs) in humidity of 78 per
cent and a temperature of 27 degrees. (Liz is pictured above enjoying her victory).
Her memorable performance prompted the British public to vote her the
BBC TV's Sports Personality of The Year for 1991. The year went very
well for her in other respects. In March she finished third in the world
cross country championships, just four months after the birth of her
first child, and on June 25th in Hengelo she became the first Briton to
beat 31 minutes for the 10,000m, running 30 mins 57.07 secs. That time
ranked her No 1 in the world for the year and was her fourth
Commonwealth record over the distance. To cap it all in November she
competed in her first marathon, winning the famous New York race in 2
hours 27 mins 32 secs, the fastest ever by a debutant marathon runner. (Ron Casey).
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