Lina Nielsen (born 13 March 1996) is a British national record-holding sprinter,[1] hurdler and yoga instructor.
In August 2022 she revealed she had been diagnosed with MS nine years earlier.
Early life
Nielsen grew up in Leytonstone, East London.[2] Her mother is Egyptian-Sudanese and her father is Danish.[3] In 2017, she graduated from Queen Mary University of London with a degree in chemistry.
Athletics career
Nielsen won the 400 m hurdles at the 2021 European Athletics Team Championships with 55.59. Nielsen has a twin sister, Laviai Nielsen, who is also an international athlete over 400m.[4][5]
At the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Nielsen won a bronze medal as part of the 4x400 metres relay team which also included her sister Laviai Nielsen.[6]
After winning the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 2024 British Athletics Championships, Nielsen was subsequently named in the Great Britain team for the 2024 Summer Olympics[7] where she went out in the semi-finals after hitting a hurdle and falling to the track. Recovering from that setback, Nielsen ran for Great Britain in the heat of the women's 4 x 400 metre relay, qualifying for the final in second place. Although, like her three fellow heat runners, she did not run the final, the third place finish for the Great Britain team in that final confirmed that Nielsen had won her first Olympic medal, a bronze.[8] In Birmingham on 15 February 2025 she broke the British women’s indoor 300m record in a time of 36.53 seconds.[9]
Athletics achievements
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | European Junior Championships | Eskilstuna, Sweden | 8th | 400 m | 54.72 |
| 1st | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:34.36 | |||
| 2017 | European Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | — | 400 m sh | DNS |
| European U23 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 4th | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:30.74 | |
| 2021 | European Team Championships, Super League | Chorzów, Poland | 1st | 400 m hurdles | 3:29.27 |
| 2nd | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:27.16 | |||
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 33rd (h) | 400 m hurdles | 57.42 |
| Commonwealth Games | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 11th (h) | 400 m hurdles | 58.95 | |
| European Championships | Munich, Germany | 21st (sf) | 400 m hurdles | 57.19 | |
| 2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 3rd | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:26.36 |
| European Championships | Rome, Italy | 7th | 400 m hurdles | 55.65 | |
| Olympic Games | Paris, France | 24th (sf) [10] | 400 m hurdles | 1:31.22 | |
| 3rd | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:24.72[11] |
Personal life
Lina is a yoga teacher, having undertaken her teaching training in Rishikesh in the summer of 2019. She is now one of the yoga instructors on the fitness app Fiit.[12]
Multiple sclerosis
In August 2022, Nielsen revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,[13] at the age of 17. She chose to keep her diagnosis private for nine years, but following a relapse two days prior to her World Athletics Championships heats in Oregon she decided to go public with her story.[14]
References
- ^ "Lina Nielsen". IAAF. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ Ben Bloom (25 February 2017). "Laviai and Lina Nielsen driven by twin dream of a medal on British debuts". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Meet Team GB: 5 of our brightest stars set to compete this summer". The Standard. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Meet the GB twins going for gold in Belgrade". BBC Sport. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^ Debbie Black (12 August 2015). "What It's Actually Like To Train With Professional Athletes". Elle. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "REEKIE SILVER & RELAY BRONZE AS GB&NI END WITH FOUR WORLD MEDALS IN GLASGOW". British Athletics. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ^ "Kerr & Johnson-Thompson head GB Olympics athletics squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ "Olympics rocked by awful scene as hush falls over crowd during athletics: 'Hard to watch'". Yahoo Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Gourley & Nielsen break British records at Keely Klassic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ fell, completed the lap
- ^ Heat result
- ^ "THERE'S ELITE. AND THEN THERE'S LINA NIELSEN". fiit.tv. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
- ^ "Lina Nielsen: British 400m hurdler reveals multiple sclerosis diagnosis before Commonwealths debut". BBC Sport. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Lina Nielsen British Athlete Reveals Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis". Sky Sports News. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
External links
