Jenny Simpson, the most accomplished American woman ever to race the 1500 meters, is showing encouraging improvement a day after collapsing at a Raleigh, N.C. track event, the running retailer Fleet Feet said in a statement Wednesday.
Simpson, 39, serves as Fleet Feet’s Chief Running Officer. The company issued the update in response to an inquiry from LetsRun.com, which first reported Tuesday night that Simpson had lost her pulse after pacing a mile field at the Sir Walter Running Pop Up Mile event and had been rushed to a hospital.
“Tuesday night, Fleet Feet’s Chief Running Officer, Jenny Simpson, experienced a medical emergency while participating in the Sir Walter Running Pop Up Mile event in Raleigh, N.C.,” the company wrote in the statement provided to LetsRun.com. “She received immediate medical attention and was transported to a nearby hospital.”
Fleet Feet CEO Joey Pointer was at the event when Simpson collapsed and stayed with her at the hospital throughout the night as her family traveled to Raleigh. They arrived early Wednesday morning, according to the statement.
“While Jenny remains under medical care, she has shown encouraging improvement and continues to exhibit the strength and resilience that have long defined her,” Fleet Feet wrote. “True to form, she has already asked about her mile time and whether she won.”
That detail, drawn from a competitor who built a 15-year professional career on outkicking the world’s best, drew an emotional response from across the running community when LetsRun.com published the statement Wednesday. Simpson retired from competitive racing after the 2024 season, but she has remained close to the sport through her Fleet Feet role and through frequent appearances at grassroots events like the Sir Walter Running series.
Her resume is one of the most decorated in the history of American middle-distance running. Simpson 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.
Fleet Feet closed its statement by thanking the running community. “The outpouring of support from across the running community has been extraordinary,” the company wrote. “We appreciate the compassion, encouragement and concern shown for Jenny and her family, and we are grateful to be part of a community that continues to rally around them.”
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