A cure is our goal: solving the mystery of MND in top athletes

As ex-England rugby captain Lewis Moody becomes the latest to be diagnosed with the disease, Paul Hayward reports on the search for a link with high-intensity sports

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Storm Amy struck as Kevin Sinfield was in the middle of a three-day block of ultra-marathon training, but he ran right through the gales with renewed purpose.

Sinfield, the rugby league legend and motor neurone disease fundraiser, was processing the news that Lewis Moody, the former England rugby union captain, had been diagnosed with MND at 47. Sinfield’s friend and Leeds Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow died from the same neurological disease last year aged 41.

The news of Moody’s diagnosis on Monday propelled Sinfield through last week’s storms. “The inspiration, the drive, the extra kick up the backside when you receive that news - the difference it makes to the running, it’s just so powerful,” he says. “It’s important that we represent the MND community in the best possible way - which is to fight.”

In December, Sinfield will begin his sixth consecutive extreme running challenge, with more than £10m raised so far for MND care and research.

MND is a savage affliction that occurs when messages sent from the brain down the body's motor neurones stop reaching the muscles, which can weaken, stiffen and waste, with dire consequences for speech, eating, drinking, swallowing and breathing. It claims six lives a day in the UK.

Moody's announcement sent sport into pained introspection. He follows Burrow, Scotland's Doddie Weir (who died in November 2022) and Gloucester's Ed Slater on to the list of recent MND cases from both rugby codes.

In football, Marcus Stewart and Stephen Darby are living with MND, which recently took the life of the former England fast bowler David "Syd" Lawrence.

In Sweden, a study found that some elite cross-country skiers, who trained intensively over several years, carried a higher risk.