Olympian Jenny Simpson, 39, Reveals She’ll Never Run Again After Suffering Cardiac Arrest in Race

• Olympian runner Jenny Simpson revealed she can never run again after suffering cardiac arrest during a running event in June
• She was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy at the hospital
• The athlete said her diagnosis “means it would be dangerous for me to return to running”

Olympian runner Jenny Simpson revealed she can never run again after suffering cardiac arrest. 

Simpson, 39, shared the news in an Instagram post on Thursday, Aug. 20, two months after she went into sudden cardiac arrest at a Sir Walter Running Pop-Up Mile in Raleigh, N.C. on June 16.

She wrote in the post that bystanders kept her alive with CPR and an AED until EMS arrived. However, once she arrived at the hospital, she went into cardiac arrest again. 

“My heart continued to fail, and I was placed on life support before being transferred to Duke Hospital for more advanced heart failure support. My body was dying, but my spirit wouldn’t give up. I fought for my life,” she said. 

The three-time Olympian shared that once her heart started beating again, it wasn’t pumping strong enough and its weakened function caused fluid to build up in her lungs. But within days, her heart and lungs recovered enough to “work on their own.” 

Simpson was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a rare heart condition that can cause irregular heartbeats and sudden cardiac death in seemingly healthy individuals, per John Hopkins Medicine.  

She expressed gratitude for her survival, writing, “My future is an incredible gift. It’s hopeful, and it will continue to have great purpose.” 

Simpson noted that her diagnosis means she will have to stop running. “My future is an incredible gift. It’s hopeful, and it will continue to have great purpose. But my diagnosis also means it would be dangerous for me to return to running. That chapter has ended. Thankfully, my story hasn’t,” she wrote.

The athlete continued, “I’m profoundly grateful that I got to have the career I did. 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.”

Simpson said she will continue to support the running community through her work as chief running officer at Fleet Feet, where she has “the privilege of helping more people discover what running can give them: confidence, connection, purpose, and joy.”

The Olympian is recovering at her home in Colorado while she continues to get treatment at Duke. “We still have a lot to learn about what my recovery will look like over time,” she said. 

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The retired runner thanked her supporters in the caption of the post, writing, “Thank you for your continued love, patience, prayers and concern as I recover and return to work and public life. You might be wondering what would be the right thing to say to me after an event like this? Please do not say that you’re sorry or that you feel bad for me. 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.” 

She continued, “I’m blessed with an incredible family, wonderful neighbors, supportive colleagues and the enormous love of our running community. I’m not afraid of what comes next because I know I’m not alone.”

Simpson is a decorated runner, having won the bronze medal in the 1500-meters in 2016 at the Rio Olympics in 2016. She also took home silver at Worlds in 2013 and 2017.

Simpson failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, placing 10th in the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials 1500-meter run, which marked the first time that she didn’t make a national team since 2007. She announced she would retire from the sport in 2024 after placing 18th in the New York City Marathon.

She then completed seven marathons on seven continents in the Great World Race, per a post on Instagram.

Last year, Simpson and her husband Jason toured the country in their motorhome, running races and connecting with the running community, according to Runner’s World.

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