Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson hospitalized after collapsing at Raleigh track event

Jenny Simpson was hospitalized after collapsing while pacing a mile group at the Sir Walter Running Pop Up Miles event in Raleigh, North Carolina. The 39-year-old Olympic medalist received CPR at the scene, and local media reported that an automated external defibrillator was also used before she was taken to the hospital.

Sir Walter Running said Simpson was receiving excellent medical care and thanked the people who responded immediately, along with emergency medical services and the medical professionals who handled the incident with care, urgency and professionalism. The running group also asked the public to keep Simpson and her family in their thoughts. By Thursday, Simpson remained under medical care and was showing encouraging improvement, though no diagnosis or cause of the collapse had been released.

Fleet Feet chief executive Joey Pointer was at the event and stayed with Simpson at the hospital until her family arrived. Fleet Feet also issued an update on her condition. The quick response from bystanders, EMS crews and hospital staff became central to the story, as the collapse happened in a setting built around shared training rather than elite competition.

The incident drew attention because Simpson has been one of the defining American middle-distance runners of her generation. She won gold in the 1,500 meters at the 2011 world championships, took bronze in the same event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, and earned silver medals at the 2013 and 2017 world championships. USA Track & Field has described her as a three-time Olympian, with appearances in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Simpson retired from competitive running in 2024, but she stayed closely tied to the sport. New York Road Runners says she is an eight-time winner of the Fifth Avenue Mile, and Fleet Feet named her its first chief running officer in February 2026, a role intended to deepen the company’s connection to running communities and shape training and brand work. For now, the focus remains on her recovery after a sudden medical emergency in the middle of a community event.