Lina Nielsen (born 13 March 1996) is a British national record-holding sprinter and hurdler.
In August 2022, she revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis nine years earlier.
Early life Nielsen grew up in Leytonstone, East London with her twin sister Laviai. 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 400 m.
At the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Nielsen won a bronze medal as part of the 4 × 400 metres relay team, which also included her sister Laviai Nielsen.
After becoming the British 400 metres hurdles champion 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 × 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.
On 15 February 2025, she broke the British women's indoor 300 m record in a time of 36.53 seconds in Birmingham. At the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, she was part of the British 4 × 400 metres relay team which won a silver medal. Nielsen retained her 400 metres hurdles title by winning the 2025 UK Athletics Championships.
Athletics achievements International competitions 2015European Junior ChampionshipsEskilstuna, Sweden8th400 m54.721st relay3:34.362017European Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia—400 m European U23 ChampionshipsBydgoszcz, Poland4th relay3:30.742021European Team Championships, Super LeagueChorzów, Poland1st400 m hurdles3:29.272nd relay3:27.162022World ChampionshipsEugene, United States33rd (h)400 m hurdles57.42Commonwealth GamesBirmingham, United Kingdom11th (h)400 m hurdles58.95European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany21st (sf)400 m hurdles57.192024World Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom3rd relay3:26.36European ChampionshipsRome, Italy7th400 m hurdles55.65Olympic GamesParis, France24th (sf) fell, completed the lap400 m hurdles1:31.223rd relay3:24.72Heat result2025European Indoor ChampionshipsApeldoorn, Netherlands2nd4 × 400 m relay3:24.893rdMixed relay3:16.49World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan29th (h)400 m hurdles55.822026Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom4th400 m hurdles54.692ndMixed relay3:11.58European ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom6th400 m hurdles54.352nd4 × 400 m relay3:21.68World Ultimate ChampionshipBudapest, Hungary14th (h)400 m hurdles55.14
National championships and competitions 2014England Championships, U20 eventsBedford—400 m58.582015England Indoor Championships, U20 eventsSheffield2nd400 m54.48England Championships, U20 eventsBedford3rd400 m53.952016England Championships, U23 eventsBedford1st400 m52.97British ChampionshipsBirmingham—400 m54.282017British Indoor ChampionshipsSheffield3rd400 m52.89England Championships, U23 eventsBedford2nd400 m hurdles58.87British ChampionshipsBirmingham—400 m53.722018England Championships, U23 eventsBedford1st400 m hurdles57.93British ChampionshipsBirmingham5th400 m hurdles57.982019British Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham—400 m54.57British ChampionshipsBirmingham7th400 m hurdles59.282020British ChampionshipsManchester2nd400 m hurdles56.992021British ChampionshipsManchester6th400 m hurdles56.682022British Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham—400 m53.092023British ChampionshipsManchester2nd400 m hurdles55.622024British Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham2nd400 m51.95British ChampionshipsManchester1st400 m hurdles54.812025British Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham2nd400 m51.77British ChampionshipsBirmingham1st400 m hurdles55.39
Circuit performances
Personal life Nielsen 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.
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.
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