Waanzinnig! Sifan Hassan schittert met marathongoud en voltooit unieke trilogie in Parijs met drie medailles

With an insane final sprint, Sifan Hassan won the gold medal in the marathon on Sunday morning in an Olympic record (2.22.55). The athlete completed her unique trilogy at the Olympic Games in Paris with three medals after the bronze in the 5000 and 10,000 meters. Two days after winning the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters, the 31-year-old Dutch athlete achieved the almost impossible by winning the tough 42.195 kilometer race through Paris. She won a nerve-wracking final sprint from Ethiopian world record holder Tigst Assefa and was cheered by thousands of spectators on her way to the finish on the Esplanade des Invalides.

Hassan can now call herself the first woman to complete the 5,000 meters, the 10,000 meters and the marathon at a single Olympic Games. She gave this task, which was considered physically almost impossible in advance, extra shine with three medals: bronze in the 5,000, bronze in the 10,000 and gold in the marathon. Hassan did not lead a single meter in the race. She followed the pace of her Kenyan and Ethiopian competitors. Sometimes she let a gap fall, but then the Ethiopian born came back to the front at her own pace. On the steep climb after 28 kilometers Assefa and her compatriot Amane Beriso Shankule pulled through. Hassan gritted her teeth, clawed her way up and managed to return to the thinned out leading group just before the top.

Read More : Van de Wouw brutaal naar laatste vier op sprint, Lavreysen op koers voor ‘Harrie’s hattrick’

My Landing page : https://heylink.me/sabrina-zahira

With nine women in front, they entered the last flat 10 kilometers. Hassan still looked fresh and stayed in the wake of Assefa and Shankule, who were unable to overtake her. Even after 40 kilometers, the Dutch top athlete was still running at the front and was preparing for a final sprint.

It was a nerve-wracking duel with Assefa, in which she almost ran into the fences, but she persevered and sprinted to victory in an Olympic record of 2.22.55. Assefa took silver in 2.22.58, Kenyan Hellen Obiri took bronze in 2.23.10.

Hassan couldn’t believe her luck. “I never dreamed of this,” she cheered at the finish in Paris. “I did dream of Olympic gold, but not in the marathon. But I won. This is so beautiful. I have gold in the marathon. If you’re not afraid of a dream, you’re not dreaming big enough,” Hassan repeated a statement by former boxer Muhammad Ali just before the marathon. “But I did regret running the 5,000 and 10,000 meters here. In the first twenty kilometers of the race I didn’t feel comfortable at all. Then I kept thinking about those 5,000 and 10,000 meters. And in the last kilometer I thought again: why did I do all this?”

Anne Luijten, the second Dutch woman in the field, finished fiftieth in 2.33.42. Ecstatic with joy, with a sun hat on her head and the Dutch tricolor draped around her shoulders, Sifan Hassan enjoyed her final sprint for eternity on the Place des Invalides with a smile from ear to ear. Gold in the Olympic marathon. A unique third medal. “This doesn’t feel like a gold medal. This feels like ten gold medals.”

The day before her race, Hassan posted a quote from Muhammad Ali on her social media. ‘If you’re not afraid of your dreams, you’re not dreaming big enough.’ “But this victory is much more than a dream. Ever since I was a child, I have dreamed of becoming an Olympic champion one day. I succeeded in doing so three years ago in Tokyo. But winning the marathon? No, I never dared to hope for that,” And that while Hassan still regretted the crazy adventure she had thrown herself into during the first part of the race. During the first 20 kilometers Hassan fought against the voices in her head that thought she was crazy.

Paris unattainable

Just a few weeks earlier, Hassan had even thought that the Paris Games were unachievable. She had become overtrained due to all the endurance work. Hassan was so tired that she seriously thought she would never be able to compete in Paris. “I really destroyed myself. I thought: goodbye, Olympic Games.” Hassan was at a loss for words to describe her phenomenal sprint at the Place des Invalides. “This is special. Special. Special. Unreal.” But above all, the reward was for the work. “My mother always says: you reap what you sow. And that’s true.”