Caroline Bredlinger diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma

Austria’s leading 800-metre runner Caroline Bredlinger has been diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma after months of breathing problems, ORF reported. The 25-year-old had to end her season early.

Bredlinger began experiencing recurring breathing difficulties shortly before the European Championships last summer. She struggled in her heat and had trouble catching her breath after the race, prompting her to put competition plans aside while doctors investigated the cause.

A pulmonologist recently diagnosed exercise-induced asthma. “I have to say it’s a relief to finally have a diagnosis, even if this is the one,” Bredlinger said. “At the moment, it isn’t affecting my training too much because I don’t get into that high-intensity range very often.”

She plans to compete using a permitted asthma inhaler and hopes to return to top form. Bredlinger said she had been told the condition was relatively common among elite athletes, which reassured her. She plans to prepare for a normal indoor season and see how things develop in the coming weeks and months.

Her immediate plans include training camps in Mallorca and South Africa before the first indoor competitions.