# Lina Nielsen

Lina Nielsen (born 13 March 1996) is a British national record-holding sprinter, 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. Her mother is Egyptian-Sudanese and her father is Danish. 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.
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.
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 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.
In Birmingham on 15 February 2025 she broke the British women’s indoor 300m record in a time of 36.53 seconds. At the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, she was part of the British 4x400 metres relay team which won a silver medal.

### Athletics achievements
#### International competitions

Representing  Great Britain &  England :
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| 2015 | European Junior Championships | Eskilstuna, Sweden | 8th | 400 m | 54.72 |
| 2015 | European Junior Championships | Eskilstuna, Sweden | 1st | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:34.36 |
| 2017 | European Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | — | 400 m sh | DNS |
| 2017 | 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 |
| 2021 | European Team Championships, Super League | Chorzów, Poland | 2nd | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:27.16 |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 33rd (h) | 400 m hurdles | 57.42 |
| 2022 | Commonwealth Games | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 11th (h) | 400 m hurdles | 58.95 |
| 2022 | 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 |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 7th | 400 m hurdles | 55.65 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 24th (sf) | 400 m hurdles | 1:31.22 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 3rd | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:24.72 |
| 2025 | European Indoor Championships | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:24.89 |
| 2025 | European Indoor Championships | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | 3rd | Mixed 4 x 400 m relay | 3:16.49 |

## 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.

### Multiple sclerosis

In August 2022, Nielsen revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, 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.