Eilish McColgan says winning gold at this summer’s World Championships is a “pipe dream” and she is instead focusing on breaking the 30-minute barrier in the 10,000m.

She returned to light training at the weekend and thinks gold in Budapest in August is now less likely.

“That would exceed my goals right now because of the setbacks,” she said.

“I think it would be a pipe dream right now, but I am not going to set myself any real limits.

“To be in Budapest and be at the start and healthy would be a big achievement to be honest.”

McColgan won 10,000m gold in the European Championships in 2021 and then at the Commonwealth Games 12 months later, before creating history in March of this year by setting a new British record of 30:00.86.

“My big thing this year would be to break the 30 minutes in the 10k,” she added.

“I think there are only 12 women in the world who have done that – it would be a big achievement for me.

“Earlier in the year, I had no doubt I could break 30 minutes. Now there is a little bit of a doubt because I haven’t been able to train for the last so many weeks.”

The one bonus for McColgan is that her knee problem did not require surgery and now she can concentrate on completing her rehab and improving her best ever time.

“To be in the top six fastest women in the world – that would be a great achievement,” she said.