麻豆社

At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Scotland was blessed with not one but two fantastic distance runners, Liz McColgan and Yvonne Murray. They enjoyed a unique double-medal success, with Liz picking up a 10k Olympic silver and Yvonne winning Olympic bronze at the 3k event. It鈥檚 the only time Scotland has enjoyed two female medals at Olympic track and field, and what Scottish queens of the track they were!

Scotland v The World focuses on this unique double-medal success at Seoul in 1988, and using interview and archive, looks back at the careers of these two legendary runners, who have helped inspire a golden generation of Scottish female athletes, including Liz鈥檚 very own daughter Eilish McColgan. We discuss their careers in the lead up to 1988 and talk about the Scottish sporting legacy they have left.

On the track, they were both serial winners, but away from athletics, their personalities couldn鈥檛 have been more different. Liz was the firebrand, larger-than-life Dundonian, whereas Yvonne enjoyed a quieter public persona, but was just as steely and determined as a competitor. They occasionally raced against each other in the 3k event, but didn't see themselves as rivals and were friends off the track.

Yvonne remains one of Scotland's most decorated individual athletes, having won 13 medals in individual events, and Liz鈥檚 10k record set in 1991 was a Scottish record until 2022, when it was eventually broken by her daughter Eilish.

Presented by Andrew Cotter.
Produced by Gus Beattie.

Scotland v The World is a Gusman Production for 麻豆社 Radio Scotland.