PARIS — In the span of less than a week, Sifan Hassan pulled off one of the most remarkable trebles in Olympic history.
The superhuman Dutch distance runner became the first woman to medal in the 5,000 meters, the 10,000 and the marathon at the same Olympics.
The leading group in the women’s marathon had dwindled to two on Sunday morning when Hassan unleashed her signature devastating finishing kick. Shaking off an elbow from Tigst Assefa as the Ethiopian tried to block her move, Hassan overtook Assefa with about 250 meters to go and then outsprinted her to the finish line to win gold in an Olympic record 2:22:55.
Once victory was hers, Hassan said she felt dizzy and had to lie down.
As she lay flat on her back, she said she thought to herself, “I’m Olympic champion. How is this possible?”
Hassan’s dramatic victory will be remembered as one of the all-time great distance-running feats because of what came before it. She had already run 50 laps on Stade de France’s purple track this week en route to taking bronze in Monday night’s women’s 5,000 and Friday night’s women’s 10,000.
When speaking to reporters earlier this week, the Ethiopian-born Hassan admitted that she was “really freaking scared of the marathon.” She had achieved the near impossible before, medaling in Tokyo in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000. But the specter of running 26.2 miles against women who were fresh left even Hassan intimidated.
Those feelings kept creeping into Hassan’s head even as she ran along a course that headed out of central Paris on a loop to Versailles, mimicking key moments from the French Revolution.
“When I started this morning, every single moment I was regretting that I ran the 5,000 and 10,000,” she said. “From the beginning to the end, I felt so hard every step. I was like, what have I done? What is wrong with me?”
And yet by the end, there was Hassan sprinting away from Assefa for a remarkable gold, one that she considers a cut above her previous Olympic victories in Tokyo.
“I challenged myself and I’m so freaking grateful,” she said.
Source Agencies
