Jenny Simpson, the most accomplished American woman ever to race the 1500 meters, has been discharged from Duke University Hospital and will continue her recovery in North Carolina, the running retailer Fleet Feet announced Thursday afternoon.
The statement, first reported by LetsRun.com, confirmed for the first time that Simpson had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while pacing a group of middle school milers at a Sir Walter Running Pop Up Mile event in Raleigh, N.C., on June 16. Bystanders performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator at the scene before she was transported to UNC Rex Hospital. She was later transferred to Duke University Hospital, where she spent the next nine days under medical care.
“We’re grateful to share that Fleet Feet Chief Running Officer Jenny Simpson has been discharged from Duke University Hospital and will continue her recovery in North Carolina following the medical emergency she experienced during the Sir Walter Running Pop Up Mile event,” Fleet Feet wrote in the statement provided to LetsRun.com.
Simpson, 39, serves as Fleet Feet’s Chief Running Officer, a role she stepped into after retiring from competitive racing in 2024. The company said she will spend the coming weeks with her family at home. “For the time being, Jenny will remain in North Carolina with her husband, Jason, and their two pups, where her focus will be on rest and healing,” the statement read.
Marathon Handbook covered the initial collapse in its first report on the incident and Fleet Feet’s first update the following day, when CEO Joey Pointer stayed with Simpson at the hospital throughout the night until her family arrived. The cause of the collapse had not been disclosed until Thursday’s statement.
“Jenny and her family are deeply grateful to the first responders, the medical teams at UNC Rex Hospital and Duke University Hospital, and everyone who has cared for her over the past nine days,” Fleet Feet wrote. “Their skill, compassion and extraordinary care have meant more than words can express.”
Simpson’s case is a vivid illustration of how decisive bystander response can be when sudden cardiac arrest happens far from a hospital. AED use and chest compressions are widely credited with improving survival rates, as seen when a veterinarian delivered life-saving first aid to a collapsed runner at the Key West Half Marathon earlier this year. Research has documented when and why cardiac events happen during races and the role that improved on-site response has played in declining fatality rates, though the running community has still been jolted by recent losses, including former NCAA record holder Eliud Kipsang, who died at 28 after suffering cardiac arrest in 2025.
Simpson’s resume remains one of the most decorated in the history of American middle-distance running. She won the world championship in the 1500 meters in 2011, becoming the first U.S. woman to claim that global title. She added world silver medals in 2013 and 2017 and an Olympic bronze in Rio in 2016, the first American woman to medal in the Olympic 1500. The women’s 1500 has continued to produce historic performances since her retirement, including Faith Kipyegon’s fourth world title in Tokyo, while the men’s side has delivered Cole Hocker’s Olympic gold in Paris and Isaac Nader’s surprise world title for Portugal.
Thursday’s statement closed with thanks to the running community and a request for privacy. “Jenny is sincerely grateful for the countless messages, prayers, encouragement and acts of kindness she has received from friends, colleagues, competitors and runners around the world, and she looks forward to connecting with the community in time,” Fleet Feet wrote. The company asked that “their privacy continues to be honored throughout her recovery.”
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