May 30 marks World Multiple Sclerosis Day, but for Lina Nielsen, May 30 meant withdrawing from two races in one week. British Olympic hurdler and sprinter Lina Nielsen has been an open book about the harsh realities of competing at the highest level with an incurable chronic illness. While she’s never let MS hold her back, on World MS Day, she revealed that it forced her to pull out of multiple recent track events.

The 30-year-old who won the bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics took to social media to share her heartbreak after she was forced to record two consecutive Did Not Start (DNS) results over the span of a single week.

Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Nielsen shared a heartfelt essay on the invisible toll of the autoimmune condition she’s tried not to show. “This past week I’ve been to two countries, to race two races and DNS’d both races,” Nielsen wrote, accompanying her post with a broken heart emoji. “It’s the first time in my career that MS fatigue has stopped me from racing.”

Nielsen, who famously won bronze with the women’s 4x400m relay squad in Paris and served as Great Britain’s team captain at the 2025 World Athletics Relays, detailed how deceptive the chronic condition can be to others. “The frustrating thing about fatigue is that from the outside I probably looked ready to compete, but on the inside, even warming up felt like I was climbing mountains.”

She chose to step away from the starting blocks right before her scheduled event. Nielsen revealed that she had to make the agonizing choice right from the call room, a heartbreaking reality of competing in elite athletics with a lifelong neurological condition.

After making the difficult decision to withdraw, she credited her competitors for lifting her spirits, adding a special shoutout to her fellow 400m hurdles competitors whose post-race hugs “kept me whole.”

For Nielsen, who is accustomed to pushing her limits, this withdrawal marked a devastating milestone.

Lina Nielsen’s journey to accepting her condition was difficult

The journey to adapt to MS began long before Lina Nielsen stood on an Olympic podium and shared the international stage with her twin, Laviai. She first experienced subtle symptoms at just 13 years old, eventually receiving her official diagnosis at age 17. The diagnosis took a profound toll on her mental health. She was in denial at first, requiring three to five years to fully come to terms with it.

Nielsen hated the pity of others, a major reason she kept the incurable condition private for nine years of her career. She finally went public with her diagnosis ahead of her World Championship debut in Eugene, Oregon in 2022, following a severe, poorly timed flare-up.

“I won’t pretend it hasn’t been hard to accept,” Nielsen said on Instagram regarding her recent competitive withdrawals. “As athletes, we spend so much time focusing on what we can control: the training, the recovery, the preparation. But sometimes your body has other plans.”

Despite the emotional setback of the past week, Nielsen, a certified yoga instructor, remains anchored by her belief in the power of movement and the support of the athletic community. The British star is shifting her focus entirely toward recovery and listening to her body, expressing optimism that she will be back on the track to continue her season.