In an amazing story out of the UK, we learn how W55 star Sue Frisby won the Lyon heptathlon bronze despite diabetes. “Competing in seven events over two days is grueling by anyone’s standards, but Sue had the constant pressure of having to monitor her sugar levels constantly throughout. … Despite suffering her first hypo – when blood sugar drops too low, leading to dizziness and blurred vision, and, in severe cases, sufferers can fall into a coma – in several years during the event, Sue says it was ‘more than worth it.'” She also won gold in the 4-by-100, silver in the 300 hurdles, bronze in the 80 hurdles and bronze in the 4-by-400. Sue says: “While I was in Lyon I never met or heard of any other diabetic competitor at that level, so I do wonder if it is unusual. … I was just one of many in the trade, so to speak. Nowhere did sports journalists mention my diabetes and that felt brilliant. I never want it to be ‘poor me.'” Your secret is out, Sue. But no poor you. Good on you!

More of the story for posterity:

When Sue Frisby takes out a needle and injects herself on the track before taking part in a 200 metre race, the crowd may be more than a little surprised.

Suspicions may be roused about banned drugs, but she is certified to say she needs insulin for life. Living with type 1 diabetes means that without her daily injections, she would die.

Diabetes means athletics can be something of an “extreme sport” for sufferers, but Sue hasn’t let that stop her.

“I realised my weight was already affecting my daughter before she was even born.”

She joined 800 athletes from all over the world for the World Masters Athletics Championships – for women and men aged 35 or above – in Lyon last year, to compete in the 55 to 60 years heptathlon.

Competing in seven events over two days is gruelling by anyone’s standards, but Sue had the constant pressure of having to monitor her sugar levels constantly throughout.

And there was more. As well as the heptathlon, she competed in a host of other events, winning an array of medals in the process.

Despite suffering her first hypo – when blood sugar drops too low, leading to dizziness and blurred vision, and, in severe cases, sufferers can fall into a coma – in several years during the event, Sue says it was “more than worth it”.

Her extreme efforts helped her win a host of medals, including one gold, for the UK.

She won gold in the 4 x 100m relay, silver in the 300m hurdles, bronze in the 80m hurdles and bronze in the 4 x 400m relay, as well as bronze in the heptathlon in her age group.

The heptathlon consists of seven events that require steady energy levels: hurdles, high jump, shot-putt, 200 metre sprint, long jump, javelin and 800 metres.

This is even harder to get right when your body doesn’t manufacture insulin itself, which makes Sue even more of a hero for winning bronze overall for Britain.

Back at home in Kibworth Harcourt, Sue says: “While I was in Lyon I never met or heard of any other diabetic competitor at that level, so I do wonder if it is unusual.”

It may be unusual, but Sue is adamant there is no reason for insulin-dependent diabetics to limit their sporting expectations.

While competing at Lyon, she was delighted to be considered as a normal competitor, up there with other top athletes.

Her diabetes didn’t come into it at all, she says, other than her having to manage it.

“I was just one of many in the trade, so to speak,” she says. “Nowhere did sports journalists mention my diabetes and that felt brilliant. I never want it to be ‘poor me’.

“I’m quite determined that if I want to do sport, I will!”

Sue’s consultant at Leicester General Hospital, has seen her through everything since diagnosis in 1991.

She has two children, Louisa, 23, and Jonny, 20, with husband Chris Monk, who she met when they were both child athletes taking part in county sports.

A county athletics champion himself, and coach for Leicester Coritanians, Chris is now her trainer.

Fortunately, he was with her at the World Championships when, very unusually, she had her diabetic hypo episode.

People having hypo attacks can no longer function properly and need an urgent intake of glucose to avoid falling into a coma.

“After I’d competed for two days in the heptathlon, I crashed out that night exhausted,” says Sue. “But when you’ve exercised to extreme your body still burns energy even when you’re asleep.

“Because I’d injected insulin, even though it was a reduced amount to normal, my blood sugar went too low during the night.

“I’d not had a hypo for six years but I did that night. Thank goodness Chris was there.

“He shovelled glucose down me, followed by biscuits, to bring up my sugar levels to normal.

“The thing is, if you do have a hypo in the night you can be sick, so I always sleep on my side in the recovery position – just in case. I try to understand it as much as I can because I want to control it, not it control me.”

Sue was 30 when she was diagnosed by a simple finger-prick blood test. “My mum and two cousins have type 1 diabetes so I guess I wasn’t too surprised,” she says.

Her glucose reading was 28; it should ideally be somewhere between four and seven.

Sue had also lost a lot of weight in a short time without dieting. The diagnosis was a no-brainer.

Right from the start, she was determined not to let the life-threatening condition hold her back from following her first love of athletics.

The answer? “In case my tests indicated I needed sugar, I kept a couple of jelly babies down my socks.”

Later, when Sue became pregnant, it was a worrying time because diabetics have to keep really tight control over their blood glucose ratio.

“If it’s too high you can pass it on to the baby, who’ll be particularly heavy,” says Sue. “Some diabetic mums have very big babies. My daughter was 6lb 7oz and my son was 4lb 3oz, but was premature.

“I would be blood-testing every two or three hours during pregnancy.”

When taking part in athletics, she says: “When it’s just one race, say the 200 metres, I do a test about 90 minutes before, then one after warm-up, then with 15 minutes to go I do another.

“That tells me I’ve got the best blood sugar to perform well in the race. For example, if the level is about seven it’s fine. If it is around four, I would eat something sugary.

“It’s a fine balance, finding your optimum performance level, which is why it’s a good thing to keep testing and establish an eating pattern right from time of diagnosis.”

Sue’s sporting life began early. “When I was a child I was always sporty. Throughout school I played netball and got to regional level in athletics. I was county champion in a lot of things.”

She went to Sir Jonathan North Girls’ School when she first entered and won the county championship, as a sprint hurdler.

At sixth form college in Glenfield, she entered her first pentathlon. “I realised I liked all the athletic events! I continued to win the county sprint hurdles title plus the pentathlon until joining the WRAF.”

“I joined the RAF as a PT instructor in Yorkshire and was there for five years. I liked my job because it was physical all the time.

“I took PT sessions for future fighter pilots. In hindsight, I probably didn’t appreciate this at the time – although my friends seemed a little jealous!”

When Sue left the RAF she worked for the Ministry of Defence. This gave her time to play netball for Yorkshire and do more athletics, “just for fun”.

When she was 29, she decided to come back to Leicester and got a transfer to the MD Leicester branch. She also went back to Leicester Coritanians Athletics Club.

“That’s where I met Chris, my husband, although I’d met him as a child athlete when I was 10 in the county sports.”

She married Chris in June 1991, nearly six months after her diagnosis.

“My dad said ‘thank goodness that’s all it is’ when he heard,” she says. “As diabetes is in the family and I’d grown up with it, it seemed almost normal.

“I’m quite proud I have it, really. It makes me feel a bit special.

As I have to inject insulin sometimes in the middle of the track, before I went to the championships I had to get an exemption certificate from the World Athletics Association. My consultant had to fill in endless forms.”

Perhaps this isn’t surprising as insulin is otherwise a banned drug in sports. If combined with steroids, insulin enables an athlete to manage excessive training without getting tired.

When Sue went for a chat last year with the specialist diabetic team at Leicester General about her forthcoming World competition, they were so enthusiastic about a diabetic who wanted to do something extreme – and had just the device to help.

Sue was a great “case study” to try out a new sensor and hand-held scanner they’d received at the hospital.

A new invention in the diabetics field, the device consisted of a little “badge” with a spike in it about 1cm long, which was inserted into her arm for the duration of the championships.

Fortunately, it worked well.

“It was so handy just to be able to swipe the scanner over the badge. It immediately gave my blood sugar reading.”

The device also gives a little graph of how levels have been performing so far that day, and an arrow to indicate whether they’re on its way up or down.

“It was brilliant and helped me so much at the World Championships,” she says. “As competitors, we had to leave all our belongings behind in the tents when we were marched around the track in front of the crowds.

“Of course, this meant I had to leave my test kit and sweets behind, which was not a nice feeling.

“However, the device, called a Libre Freestyle, showed me that the arrow was level, which gave me confidence that nothing extreme would happen.”

When Sue was selected to compete in the GB relay team, she could do the same to confirm she was good to go for the duration.

The device is now starting to become more widely available.

Now, Sue wants to become an inspiration and ambassador for other diabetics who want to take part in competitive sport.

“Having competed at World Championship level, I hope to try to inspire other diabetics to get involved in sport, perhaps not at world level, but day to day – to build it into their lives,” she says.

“Maintaining a high level of fitness for me has contributed so much to my wellbeing, both physically and mentally.

“Diabetes and athletics are perhaps not easy to mix but my love of competing has encouraged me to work hard at understanding diabetes, to read about it, to experiment with it, even if it means getting it wrong at first.

“To achieve the right balance, to be able to be at your best physically, involves so much, but is so rewarding in so many ways.”