Irine Cheptai and Sheila Kiprotich finished second and third respectively behind Scot Eilish McColgan in the women's 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday, August 3.
The race had a considerably larger field than that of the men's on August 2. McColgan, with a Personal Best (PB) of 30:19.02, was looking to follow in her mum Liz McColgan's footsteps by medalling in this event.
From the gun, the race was quite slow with all athletes fighting for space on the inner lane. However, everything changed in the 4,000m mark when McColgan inspired by the crowd went to the front.
At the halfway point of the race, McColgan was still in front, however everything changed in the 6,000m mark when Cheptai and Kiprotich made their move passing the Scot to take control of the race.
The medal contest with 3,000m to go was between these three who were well ahead of the other runners. With 2,000m to go, McColgan moved back into the gold medal position as the Kenyans began to slow down.
22 laps down, Kiprotich dropped back from the leading pack seemingly having picked up an injury. The gold medal was now between Cheptai and McColgan.
With 200m to go, Cheptai increased her pace significantly. Gritting her teeth, everyone was expecting her to cross the finish line comfortably. However, with less than 100m to go, McColgan accelerated past Cheptai to the joy of fans in the Alexander Stadium.
McColgan dug deep for that one crossing the line in 30:48.60. Not only did she get the gold medal but the Scot also set a Commonwealth Games record!
After the race, she could be seen parading round with a Scotland flag, the arena was full of emotion. She then sprinted to hug her her mother, Liz McColgan who won gold in the 10,000m for Scotland in the 1991 World Championships!
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