- Olympic runner Liz McColgan says her ex-husband controlled her life
- She claims Peter claims ‘never loved me, only my name and my wealth’
- Accused her of assault in 2011, but she was cleared in court
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Memories: Liz and Peter McColgan during happier times at a social event in Glasgow in 2010
After two-and-a-half years of bitter recriminations and humiliating public showdowns, Olympic silver medallist Liz McColgan’s 26-year marriage, which was once regarded as one of the strongest in the world of sport, officially came to an end last week.
The former BBC Sports Personality of the Year already feels an enormous sense of relief that one of the most painful episodes of her life, which included an assault trial and being publicly accused of infidelity, is over.
And she says she is looking forward to rebuilding her life away from Peter McColgan, a man she claims ‘never loved me, only my name and my wealth’.
She paints a picture of someone who became ‘obsessive’ about her success after his own career as a steeplechaser began to wane, and who, she claims, eventually controlled every aspect of her life, even stalking her on social-networking sites because he believed she was having an affair.
Today, in an exclusive interview, the 48-year-old, who inspired a generation with her phenomenal track successes in the Eighties and Nineties, speaks candidly about the failure of her marriage and her determination to put it behind her.
Liz, now an athletics coach and TV and radio personality, says: ‘The past few years have been the worst of my entire life. There were times I felt as if I had lost my identity because of everything thrown at me during the marriage break-up.
‘I wanted to be remembered for what I achieved on the track, not for my love life. I can never forgive Peter for what he put me and our children through but I am trying to move on. I’m looking forward to being free to rebuild a new life without him.’
The pair first met as teenagers in Alabama, where they were both on US college athletics scholarships. Then, in 1986, their world changed dramatically when Dundee-born Liz beca me a household name by winning gold in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. She married Peter, her first boyfriend, a year later.
‘We were thrown together because of the environment we found ourselves in,’ she says today. ‘I thought we were in love but I’m not sure now after everything I’ve since discovered. I’m not sure if I ever really knew Peter at all.’
Liz went on to win silver at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and in 1991 she became the first British woman to hold a world distance title when she won the 10,000m at the World Cham-pionships in Tokyo. That year she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and in 1992 she was awarded an MBE.
Peter, from Northern Ireland, retired as a competitor and became her manager, with Liz continuing to compete until 2001. She says: ‘All I had to do was concentrate on training and Peter did the rest, which is why I never questioned the control he had over my life.
‘I thought he was a person who was in love with me, that we had this fantastic life together. But now I know he was with me for the great lifestyle and who I was. I’m not sure he ever really loved me at all.’
By 2008, the couple had accumulated more than 40 homes as part of a property company they jointly owned, as well as establishing the Liz McColgan Health and Physiotherapy Club in the grounds of their £750,000 home in Angus, Scotland.
Describing their situation then as ‘asset rich, cash poor’, Liz says: ‘I had long since retired from the track and was happily bringing up the children. But Peter suddenly said we could do with some extra cash going through the business and I needed to get back into sport. I managed to do some coaching and get on to Great Britain management teams.
‘Peter stayed at home to look after the main business, while I was getting involved in a more social scene that he wasn’t a part of. I’d be away for three or four days at competitions, mixing with other coaches. Some were female but most were men because that’s the reality of the sport.
‘Increasingly it caused friction between us. It was only the children who made things bearable.’
Golden girl: Liz McColgan after winning the 10,000 metre final in Tokyo in 1991
She adds: ‘Throughout my career, I always got up to start training at 5am and went to bed at 9pm. But suddenly I had the freedom to develop as my own person and I was enjoying it. I realised I had missed out on a lot. From the age of 12, all I had done was run. When I was a teenager, I didn’t go to discos or parties as I was always training.
‘I think I’m the only person to win Sports Personality of the Year and not go to the party afterwards because I was training the next day. The day I married I did a six-mile run before the ceremony. It was only later I realised I had missed out on so much.’
The dramatic breakdown of the marriage has been particularly harrowing for the couple’s five children: Eilish, 22, who competed for Team GB in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the London Olympics last year, Martin, 13, Eamonn, 12, Kieran, ten, and Orla, seven. They watched their warring parents living separate lives in the family’s Victorian villa. Leading up to the eventual decision to split in October 2010, the couple were rarely in the same room together, never shared family meals, had separate bedrooms, and communicated by text from opposite ends of the property.
 Liz claims her husband began to get suspicious when she stayed up late to chat to her new-found friends on social-networking sites. She says: ‘It was nonsense, but perhaps some of it did come across as a bit flirty. I did tell one coach I was not happy in my marriage. Soon afterwards, Peter accused me of having an affair. It was a lie but nothing I said made him believe me.’
It was then she discovered she was being ‘stalked’, receiving threatening, anonymous text messages. In court Peter, who later admitted secretly fitting ‘spyware’ to the family computer, was exposed as the phantom texter.
When Liz was enjoying a drink in a bar with some of the other coaches, she would suddenly get a text accusing her of being with other men. One message said: ‘What would your hubby think of what you’re doing?’
Eventually they agreed their marriage was over and the couple made a pact to take a year to try to sort out their personal and joint business affairs amicably, with Peter remaining at their house.
But things finally came to a head in July 2011 after Liz received a lawyer’s letter suggesting they should sell their home. It resulted in the star facing assault charges.
Peter claimed his wife prodded and punched him twice in the face during a heated exchange in their kitchen, before throwing his clothes out of a window.
She was later cleared but not before her husband accused her publicly in court of being unfaithful during their marriage â€" a claim she denies.
He, in turn, would be described by a judge as ‘shifty and conniving’, making up the allegations to ‘ruin’ Liz’s coaching career.
‘I felt sick to my stomach when I got that lawyer’s letter,’ Liz recalls. ‘He started sniggering when I asked him why it had been sent. I shoved him to get him to turn around. Peter says I punched him in front of the children, which is not true and the court didn’t believe him either.
‘Yes, our children were upset, but not because they saw me hitting him. It was because they heard the argument about him wanting the house sold.’ She admits she then asked her husband to leave the house and when he refused, she threw his clothes out of the window on three occasions. Peter stubbornly retrieved them each time before finally agreeing to depart.
Accused: Liz and Peter arrive at Arbroath Sheriff court in 2011 for the trial of the alleged attack where he accused her of punching him twice in the face
Liz was playing in the garden with her children the next day when two police officers arrived to arrest her. She says: ‘I thought someone was going to step in and say they were joking. When I realised they were serious, all I could think about was getting someone to look after the children while I sorted out the mess.
‘Looking back, I still find it hard to believe I was arrested on such a trumped-up allegation. Yes, I shoved Peter and I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t punch him.’
For Liz, the outcome of the assault trial in November 2011 was a welcome relief because their sham of a marriage was now out in the open, and there would be no further need to cover up the heartache behind her public image. With all pretence at civility ove r, the couple became locked in a bitter battle over their property portfolio, but have finally reached an agreement.
The family home and its extensive grounds are up for sale. But gazing at the framed photographs adorning its walls, Liz admits having no regrets and being ready to embrace whatever the future holds.
One of the first steps down that new path will be leaving Scotland to re-establish herself 400 miles away in Loughborough, Leicestershire. It is somewhere she feels she can ‘lick her wounds’ and blend in after the humiliation she has endured.
‘I feel that everyone in Scotland knows my business and I can’t walk down the street without finger pointing,’ she says, adding: ‘Since my marriage ended, I feel as if I’ve been in a goldfish bowl. It’s been a struggle bringing up five children with no regular income since the divorce and the wrangle over our properties. We’ve had to survive on wha t I could make from coaching, as well as TV and media work.
‘Now I want to go somewhere where I am less recognisable and without everyone knowing my personal business.
‘I want to relax and be myself, and go back to concentrating on coaching and rebuilding my health and fitness work.’
Her new destination is largely due to the fact she has found new love with former Olympic athlete John Nuttall, 46, who is based in the town. A coach overseeing Team GB’s endurance programme through to the next Olympics in Rio, Nuttall is someone she has known for years but the pair grew close after both their marriages ended.
Liz said: ‘I’ve been so lucky with John, who was also going through a hard time with his marriage. He’s restored my belief in love. He loves me for who I am.’
Liz admits still feeling bitter, however, that her protracted divorce meant her health club went under wi th debts of £820,000 five months ago.
But she says: ‘Peter and I are both in new relationships now and I hope that one day we can be civil to one another for the sake of our children.’
A slight smile plays on her lips as she adds: ‘I’m trying to be a better person, but forgiveness is going too far. I think I’ve reached an acceptance of the situation with Peter â€" let’s leave it at that.’
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