Swedish trail runner Emilia Barnegat has passed away at the age of 21 after taking her own life.
The talented long-distance athlete won bronze in 2022’s Trail World Championships 40km race in Chiang Mai, and this year came fifth in a world championship race in Innsbruck but was forced to take an extended break from the sport after being diagnosed with an extremely high heart rate.
In a post shared to her Instagram account on November 4, Barnegat detailed the difficulties she had been suffering both physically and mentally after being forced to take time away from the sport.
‘Just taking a walk is painful right now,’ Barnegat wrote. ‘Have been to the hospital and visit the medical over 20 times but every single blood test/ keg/ cycle test is good. Still my body is super stressed although I have given it so much love the past months’.
‘Maybe it was to much for a 21 year old girl to run Transvulcania 48k and WMTRC 45k with less then one month in between. I am super sad because running and training means so much’, the athlete added.
personally, but have understood that she was a very nice person, a forward-thinking, lovely, talented girl with her whole life ahead of her,’ she added.
Barnegat’s running association Vasteras FK also shared a statement on its website, saying that they are all ‘in mourning’.
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