Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan, who triumphed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Games ahead of Tigst Assefa (Ethiopia) and Hellen Obiri (Kenya) and added gold to bronze in the 5,000m and 10,000m, became the first woman to medal in all three events at one Olympics.
“I’m speechless. Every single moment of the race I regretted running both the 5,000m and 10,000m. I said if I hadn’t I would have felt great today”, joked Sifan Hassan. “From the beginning to the end, it was very difficult for me. Every step of the way. I was thinking, ‘Why did I do it? What’s wrong with me?’ I would have felt much more comfortable if I hadn’t participated in the other races”, repeated the marathon champion.
The winner of the London and Chicago marathons in 2023, who took part in the Olympic marathon for the first time at the age of 31, followed Czech Emil Zatopek, who won all three events at the 1952 Games.
Sifan Hassan’s participation in the 5,000m and 10,000m before the marathon means she runs about 62 kilometers in total. The start of the 10,000m was on Friday night, meaning she had about 35 hours to recover for the marathon.
Ethiopian-born Sifan Hassan is a three-time medalist from Tokyo, where she took bronze in the 1,500m and triumphed in the 5,000m and 10,000m titles.
“The moment I felt better around 20km was nice. Then I realized I wanted the gold. But everyone else was fresh and I thought they were going to be very fast. When you finish, it was a relief. It was amazing. I haven’t experienced anything like that. I couldn’t stop celebrating, and I wanted to lie down. Then I thought I was an Olympic champion”, said Sifan Hassan.
