British runner Jessica Warner-Judd provisionally diagnosed with epilepsy after collapsing at European Athletics Championships
By George Ramsay, CNN
(CNN) — British distance runner Jessica Warner-Judd says that she has provisionally been diagnosed with a form of epilepsy after collapsing mid-race at the European Athletics Championships.
Warner-Judd was competing in the final of the women’s 10,000 meters in Rome when she had a seizure with about 600 meters left until the finish.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said that she was taken to the medical center and had another seizure, before being sedated and transported to hospital.
“From getting the bus to the warm up track, I can’t explain it – something felt off,” Warner-Judd wrote in the post. “I don’t remember much about the race apart from around 3k in, my head felt incredibly tight but I stubbornly persevered.
“It has been an incredibly tough couple of months and has culminated in me being provisionally diagnosed with focal epilepsy,” she added. “I’m not sure what the future holds … but I’m eager not to let this stop me and be back running soon.”
Focal epilepsy is a neurological condition in which recurring seizures affect one side of the brain.
Warner-Judd also had a seizure during a 10,000m race in the US in March, which she described as feeling like “[my head] was going to explode.”
Writing on Instagram, she said that her subsequent test results were normal and she gradually returned to training.
The 29-year-old, who placed eighth at last year’s world championships, thanked British Athletics and her friends and family for their support over the past few months.
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