Eilish McColgan admits the thought of leaving the elite side of athletics crossed her mind during her injury problems.

The 26-year-old middle-distance runner struggled to overcome an ankle fracture at the start of 2016 and was still in pain beyond Easter.

Despite the setbacks and challenges to be fit in time, McColgan returned in time to be a named in Great Britain's Olympic team for the games in Brazil.

She went on to reach the final of the Women's 5000m and ran personal bests over every distance she raced this year.

McColgan says her achievements have outweighed everything she could possibly have expected at the start of the year but during her darkest days she questioned whether she'd work her way back to the top.

"I will always go out for a jog, I'll always be a jogger, but I think I was unsure whether I could come back into the sport at an elite level," she told STV.

"It's a completely different ball game obviously competing in the Olympic games and world championships. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to reach that level again.

"I did think about leaving the elite side of the sport but it's not something that was really there. It flitted in and out."

The runner from Dundee is now looking ahead to 2017 and says her successful battle with fitness has given her a concrete stepping stone to the world championships in London next summer.

"It definitely makes you not only stronger physically, but also stronger mentally," she continued.

"I think I'm a much stronger athlete as a package now and I'm in a completely different place to what I was five years ago.

"I've matured into it and that experience reminds you why you are in the sport. It was hard at the time but it might have been a bit of a blessing coming at that time."