A 32-year-old British Olympic sprinter, who attended the Tokyo 2021 Games, today finds herself bedridden for more than 22 hours a day due to a still unknown illness. She, who trained five hours a day, became dependent on almost everything, as she told the BBC in October 2026.
This athlete is the British Beth Dobbin200m specialist, who reveals that he suffers frommyalgic encephalomyelitisalso called
chronic fatigue syndrome. Bedridden for around 22 hours a day, she explains to the BBC: “I wish it was just fatigue. But it’s much more than that. She’s barely in my 20 biggest symptoms“. His story reminds us that it is not a simple “great fatigue”, but a severe illness.
From Tokyo to bed: Beth Dobbin’s daily life with chronic fatigue syndrome
According to BBC Sport and LBC, Beth Dobbin only leaves her bed to eat or go to the toilet and has only left her house five times in 2026. She confides: “It’s devastating, I can’t even put it into words.“. She says she lost her independence, her job and sport, with the impression that her body was shutting down.
She told BBC Sport: “I did little things like going to the doctor for blood work and was bedridden for months afterward. So doing this interview, chatting for 30 minutes, it could have an impact on me in 2027“. For her, even sitting for too long or holding a conversation can trigger an exhausting “crash.”
How Beth Dobbin fell into myalgic encephalomyelitis after Covid-19
According to her story to the BBC and British media, it all started in winter 2021-2022, when she successively contracted
Covid-19 then mononucleosis, or “kissing disease”. She doesn’t really feel sick and continues to compete in major international competitions. Little by little, disturbed sleep, painful lymph nodes, dizziness and weak legs appear.
After numerous examinations, specialists arrive at the diagnosis ofmyalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). CFS results in profound exhaustion and profound fatigability (inability to perform daily tasks, or even to remain standing). This is accompanied by physical problems (muscle and joint pain similar to fibromyalgia) and cognitive problems (memory problems, concentration problems, etc.). It mainly affects women between 40 and 50 years old. Its causes remain unclear: abnormalities of the immune system, infections such as mononucleosis or long Covid, genetic or environmental factors, etc.
On its dedicated page, Health Insurance has described ME/CFS since August 2026 as “a disease responsible for chronic disabling exhaustion and the occurrence of aggravations after minor efforts“and specifies that she”should not be considered a psychological disorder“. The text emphasizes deep, persistent fatigue, not relieved by rest, “post-exercise malaise”, but also concentration and memory problems, sometimes associated with other variable physical symptoms.
Living with chronic fatigue syndrome: “pacing” and Beth Dobbin’s public fight
On ameli.fr, Health Insurance describes “pacing” as fine management of energy: distributing activities, adapting your environment, sometimes agreeing to further reduce activity to avoid post-exercise discomfort. It is not a question of increasing gradually as in classic sports training. Standard exercise programs are not recommended, because inappropriate activity can permanently worsen the condition of people withmyalgic encephalomyelitis.
Faced with a future that she describes as “very dark”,
Beth Dobbin chose to speak to raise awareness about this little-known disease: “I said I wanted to talk about it. It’s not necessarily that I want to discuss it (but) it’s to raise awareness. And unfortunately, athletes are much cruder than the average person“.