Jess Warner-Judd Suffers Mid-Race Seizure, Is Provisionally Diagnosed With Epilepsy

British 10,000m runner Jess Warner-Judd has revealed that she suffered a seizure during the women’s European 10,000m final in Rome on Tuesday. 

Jess collapsed with 600m to go in the race, and then suffered a further seizure while being assessed by medics in the stadium. 

“From getting the bus to the warm up track, I can’t explain it – something felt off!” Jess shared on X. “I don’t remember much about the race apart from around 3k in, my head felt incredibly tight but I stubbornly persevered.” After she collapsed, she was taken to hospital and spent the night there.

She’s since been provisionally diagnosed with focal epilepsy, which can occur in a specific part of the brain, and can cause short seizures.

“I’m not sure what the future holds [at the moment],” she wrote, “but I’m eager not to let this stop me and be back running soon.” 

Lead image: James Rhodes