Three-time US Olympian Jenny Simpson has revealed she will never run again after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest while pacing a community track event.
The 39-year-old middle-distance legend collapsed on June 16 during a Sir Walter Running Pop-Up Mile event in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she was serving as a pacer for a group of young runners.
Bystanders saved Simpson’s life by performing CPR and using an Automated External Defibrillator before emergency responders arrived, but her heart failed again upon reaching the hospital.
Simpson was placed on life support and transferred to Duke University Hospital for specialized heart failure treatment, where her heart eventually regained function after severe fluid buildup in her lungs.
‘Then, miraculously, my heart woke back up,’ Simpson recalled of her fight for survival. ‘My whole body proved remarkably resilient. Within days, my heart and lungs were strong enough to work on their own.’
Breaking her silence on Instagram two months after the incident, Simpson confirmed she has been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a rare heart condition that disrupts the heart’s system with scar tissue.
Three-time U.S. Olympian Jenny Simpson has revealed she will never run again after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest while pacing a community track event
Simpson won a bronze medal at the 2015 Olympic Games in the women’s 1500m race
‘My future is an incredible gift. It’s hopeful, and it will continue to have great purpose,’ Simpson wrote.
‘But my diagnosis also means it would be dangerous for me to return to running. That chapter has ended. Thankfully, my story hasn’t.’
‘I’m profoundly grateful that I got to have the career I did,’ she added.
‘I experienced everything from the trenches of training to standing on the top of the podium while our national anthem filled the stadium. I got to race everything from the mile to the marathon all over the world.’
The 2011 1,500m World Champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, who retired from professional racing in 2024, asked well-wishers not to offer sympathy as she continues her recovery at home in Colorado.
‘Please do not say that you’re sorry or that you feel bad for me,’ Simpson urged her followers.
‘If it is true in your heart, please tell me you’re glad that I’m here. That’s how I feel – so glad that I’m still here.’
