Women’s runner hospitalized after falling unconscious during distance race

Dutch women’s athlete Maureen Koster was knocked unconscious when she fell down during the women’s 3000m at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on Sunday.

The 32-year-old athlete was treated by medical staff and later transported to a local hospital. 

Koster was in front of Great Britain’s Innes FitzGerald and behind Hannah Nuttall when the fall occurred. Nuttall was temporarily pushed off the track and FitzGerald had to run around Koster. 

“I just saw her on the floor in front of me. I thought I had to get around her and hopefully not be fazed by that,” FitzGerald said after the race. “I didn’t want it to affect my race plan. It was gutting to have her fall, especially in front of a home crowd. I hope she is okay. Very sad that she fell over.”

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The Netherlands team later posted on X that Koster was conscious and responsive.

Koster’s friend and fellow competitor, Great British runner Melissa Courtney-Bryant, who finished the event with silver, said the incident was “carnage.” 

“I heard Maureen scream,” Courtney-Bryant said. “I know her really well because we used to train together and room on the Diamond League. Then I saw a leg as I was running around, and I knew it was her shoe. It put everyone on edge, and everyone was pushing more. I was just trying to keep up, because you don’t want to end up down as well. It was carnage.”

Ireland’s Sarah Healy won gold after Koster’s fall. 

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