British Olympian John Nuttall dies of heart attack at 56

The British athletics community is mourning the sudden death of Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist John Nuttall, who suffered a heart attack on Thursday in Doha, Qatar, surrounded by his family.

Everyone at UKA is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our former colleague John Nuttall.

Our thoughts are very much with his family and close friends at this time.

— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) November 10, 2023

Nuttall, 56, was a father of two and step-dad to British record holder Eilish McColgan. He represented Great Britain at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the IAAF World Championships in 1993 and 1995, and World Cross Country Championships on five occasions.

Nuttall won his first medal for Team GB in the men’s 5,000m at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, B.C., winning bronze. He ended his career with PBs of 7:36.40 for 3,000m and 13:16.70 for 5,000m.

Following Nuttall’s informal retirement in 1998, he worked as an endurance coach with UK Athletics before joining the Aspire Academy in Qatar in 2013, working alongside his wife, Liz McColgan, who won a silver medal in the women’s 10,000m at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

UK Athletics (UKA) released a statement Friday, expressing grief for the loss of the longtime athlete and coach: “Everyone at UKA is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our former colleague John Nuttall. His loss is felt deeply by friends and colleagues here at UKA who worked alongside and knew John. Our thoughts are very much with his family and close friends at this time.”

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A post shared by Eilish McColgan (@eilishmccolgan)

Nuttall’s stepdaughter, Eilish McColgan, shared on social media: “It’s hard to find the words right now. Our family suffered a huge loss yesterday with the sudden passing of my stepfather John. We’ve spent the last six weeks here in Doha, with my mum and John, and so his passing has been a huge shock. We are still trying to process it.”