Five years after lining up at the Tokyo Olympics, Britain's Beth Dobbin is largely bedbound with ME, a debilitating illness that has no cure.
Beth Dobbin once ran at the very top of world athletics. Today, the Great Britain sprinter spends roughly 22 hours of every day in bed, living with a diagnosis of ME, a condition that has taken over her life.
Dobbin represented Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she stood among the best sprinters on the planet. Five years on, the explosive power and training routines that defined her career have been replaced by a daily fight just to get through basic tasks.
ME, or myalgic encephalomyelitis, is a long-term, severely debilitating illness with no known cure. For those hit hardest, it can mean profound exhaustion, pain, and a life confined to a bedroom, a brutal contrast to the sprint track, where every hundredth of a second is chased.
Her story is a stark reminder that elite athletes are not immune to serious illness, and that careers built on peak fitness can be upended in ways no training plan can prepare for. The athletics community now has the chance to rally around one of its own and shine a light on a condition that too often goes unseen.
