[powerpress]
Twenty minutes without a pulse.
A rare inherited disease nobody caught. An identity, built over thirty-nine years, suddenly on the chopping block. How do you rebuild a life when the thing that made you is gone?
Three-time Olympian and Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson says she isn’t starting from zero.
You may know Jenny for the bronze in Rio de Janeiro – the first American woman ever to medal in the 1500 meters, and one of the most decorated American middle-distance runners of her generation.
But if that’s the sum of your relationship with this human, there’s a lot more to her – an unusually rigorous mind for how excellence actually gets built.
A world champion, an American record holder in the steeplechase, and a four-time NCAA champion at Colorado who spent fourteen years as a professional and retired on her own terms.
Then, at a local mile race in June, her heart stopped. What follows is her first account of what happened, recorded eight weeks later, before she had spoken publicly.
Topics include:
- The Lopsided Life & the Cultural Imperative to Be Balanced
- Evidence Over Belief & Confidence You Can Physically Hold
- The Shoe That Came Off & Separating the Work From the Self
- June 16th & the Twenty Minutes That Saved Her
- The Fight Nobody Else in That Room Remembers
- Courage Over Fear & the Intervention More Powerful Than the Ignorance
Whether you’re an athlete confronting a setback, somebody whose identity got rearranged without permission, or a person who has never taken a CPR class, this one will stay with you.
For those who prefer a visual experience, the conversation is available on YouTube. As always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Peace + Plants,
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- Connect with Jenny: Website | Instagram | Threads
- Article: NY Times: The day Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson’s heart stopped
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