American Olympic bronze medallist and former 1,500-metre world champion Jenny Simpson has revealed that she has been diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a rare inherited heart condition that will unfortunately prevent her from safely returning to competitive running.
The 39-year-old athlete had an incident where she collapsed in June during a community track meet organised by Sir Walter Running and had to be revived via the means of CPR.
Simpson then shared her diagnosis in an Instagram statement on Thursday, describing her future as “an incredible gift” while acknowledging that the condition she has, now makes running dangerous.
Simpson won the 1,500m title at the 2011 World Championships and claimed bronze in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She also earned silver medals at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships before retiring from competitive athletics in 2024.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Published on Aug 20, 2026
