'Nameless and faceless' McColgan calls for passport ID to combat social media bullies

Eilish McColgan has revealed that she has even been body-shamed by school teachers, as she called for social media companies to use formal identification to prevent the abuse she faces every day.

- Sean Ingle

But McColgan, who will make her London Marathon debut on Sunday, has vowed to defy the bullies by staying on social media even though she was accused of "looking like a skeleton" and having anorexia when her mum, Liz, reposted a video of her training last month.

"Having a verified account where someone has to link their passport would make a big difference, because at the moment a lot of it is nameless and faceless," said McColgan. "I think they just assume you're like a robot. You're not actually a human. You're not a person. You don't have a mum, a dad, a partner who's going to read that sort of stuff. It's very bizarre.