British runner Jessica Warner-Judd says she has been provisionally diagnosed with a form of epilepsy after suffering a seizure during the women’s European 10,000m final on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old dropped out with 600m to go in Rome and while being assessed in the medical centre, said she had a further seizure which led to her being sedated and spending the night in hospital.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter,, external Warner-Judd added she was “not sure what the future holds [at the moment]”.
In March, she suffered a similar mid-race seizure during a 10,000m event in the United States.
Focal epilepsies are characterised by seizures in one area on one side of the brain, and can last between a few seconds and two minutes.
“From getting the bus to the warm up track, I can’t explain it-something felt off!” wrote Warner-Judd, who is a two-time UK 10,000m champion.
“I don’t remember much about the race apart from around 3k in, my head felt incredibly tight but I stubbornly persevered.”
Warner-Judd thanked British Athletics and her family and friends for helping her through what she described as an “incredibly tough couple of months”.
“I’m not sure what my year will look like, but I’m eager not to let this stop me and be back running soon,” she added.
