WATCH: Runner who collapsed at finish line explains she couldn't breathe due to mask

Runner collapses (video screenshot)

A high school track runner says she passed out and collapsed on the finish line during a race because of the mask she was required to wear.

Maggie Williams of Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, told local KTVZ-TV  she was feeling “super-dizzy” before hitting the ground at the end of her race last Thursday.

“I felt like I just wasn’t being able to get a full breath,”  she said.

“Multiple times of that happening, not being able to get enough air — I just felt super-dizzy, and then eventually passed out.”

See KTVZ’s coverage:

The Oregon Health Authority set the requirement for outdoor sports in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Williams said she had never had such problems before, but “this race that I was wearing a mask, it did happen, which I don’t think is a coincidence.”

Her coach, Dave Turnbull agreed that the mask was to blame, saying she was suffering from “complete oxygen debt,” The Oregonian reported.

“I’ve been doing this for 31 years, I’ve never seen anybody basically lose consciousness,” he said.

Although she fell on the finish line, Williams set a school record for the 800-meter of 2:08:45.

KTVZ reported Williams and Turnbull have asked the OHA to eliminate the mask requirement.

“I am concerned with the mask rule. This is what I am worried about, and I said this at the beginning of the season. You get a kid running the 800 with a mask on, it is actually dangerous. They don’t get the oxygen that they need,” Turnbull said.

He suggested the members of the state agency “come out and run an 800 with a mask on.”

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