RunBlogRun comments: Sifan Hasan now has six Olympic medals: three in Tokyo 2021 (bronze in 1500m, gold in 10,000m and 5,000m) and three from 2024 (bronze in 10,000m and 5,000m and gold in the marathon). Sifan Hasan ran 62k races in Paris and is the only woman ever to win Olympic medals in the 5000m, 10000m and marathon at the same Olympic Games.
Remember, only one man has done it, Emil Zatopek, back in 1952 with golds in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon.
If you want more about Sifan Hassan, please check out our interview with Sifan Hassan: https://www.runblogrun.com/2024/09/sifan-hassan-the-runblogrun-interview-speaks-on-her-running-origins-her-experiences-and-her-recent-olympic-medals.html? swcfpc=1
HASSAN NABS HAS HISTORIC THIRD PARIS 2024 MEDAL WITH MARATHON WIN
By Rich Sands, @sands
(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
NOTE: This story was written remotely with the help of local reports from Paris – Ed.
(August 11). The athletics program for the 2024 Olympics came to a spectacular close on Sunday. The Netherlands’ Sifan Hasan won the women’s marathon sprint to win her third medal of the Paris Games. World record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia crossed the line 3 seconds behind, while Helen Obiri of Kenya won the podium. Hasan became the only woman in history to win medals in the 5000m (bronze), 10,000m (bronze) and marathon (gold) at the same Olympic Games.
As in the men’s race on Saturday, the women were cautious at the start, well aware that some brutal hills await them midway through the race, with temperatures steadily rising from 66F/19C at the start. There was no cloud cover and the course had little shade.
A field of 91 athletes set off from the Hôtel de Ville (Paris City Hall), but the first casualty would come quickly. U.S. Olympic champion Fiona O’Keefe, an uncomfortable runner from the start, was out by the 5-K mark. He will be among 11 athletes who did not finish the race.
The packed lead went through the 5-K in 17:24, then picked up the pace a bit to reach the 10-K in 34:32. There were 14 women ahead of the 15-K (51:12), including defending Olympic champion Perez Jepchirchir of Kenya, Asefa (who set a world record of 2:11:23 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon), Obiri (two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000 meters and world champion in indoor and outdoor track and cross country) and France’s Melody Julien, who remained at or near the lead for most of the first half.
The course’s initial hilly section, which began at 15-K, slowed the pace significantly, allowing several women to catch up to the leaders, including Dakota Lindwurm of the United States and Japan’s Yuka Suzuki. The 24-year-old Suzuki, who won the Japanese Olympic Trials last October, was hoping to break Japan’s 20-medal drought in the Olympic marathon.
At the halfway point (1:13:22) 20 women were in contact and a few minutes later Lindwurm made a bold move to the front to lead the race at the Versailles turnaround.
“I looked and said. “God, you’re crazy!” I can’t believe he put me in that position,” Lindwurm told NBC Sports sideline reporter Steve Porrino shortly after the race. “I have so many people watching me in Minnesota that I could almost feel Minnesota watching me. It was an honor to be with those women.”
The decisive race took shape after the 28-K during a relentless 600m hill section that climbed a 10.5% grade. Assefa, Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso Shankule, Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, Jepchirchir and Suzuki split the field. Obiri fell back briefly, but soon regained contact.
After climbing the hill at 30-K (1:43:59), nine women, including Hasan, Suzuki, Bahrain’s Eunice Chumba and Romania’s Delvin Meringor, were back in contention on the dreaded descent. The pace picked up and at 35-K (1:59:43) the leaders posted their fastest 5-K split of the day (15:44). Soon, Chumba, Meringor and Jepchirchir began to lose touch, followed by Suzuki (the Japanese medal drought would continue).
Approaching the Eiffel Tower at kilometer 39, there were five contenders left: Assefa, Beriso Shankule, Obiri, Lockedi and Hassan, who strategically stayed behind the pack at all times.
Those five were still together at 40-K (2:16:09), but after a kilometer, Beriso Shankule fell behind, followed by Lokedi. Asefa and Obiri ran step by step, Hasan on their heels. Eventually, Assefa raced to the front with less than 400 meters to go. Hassan responded quickly, but Obiri (who said he missed two water stations during the race and even stopped briefly to take a dip) couldn’t match the increased pace.
As Assefa and Hassan rounded the final bend, heading onto the bright blue carpet of the Esplanade des Invalides, they briefly tangled. (Although the contact appeared accidental, the Ethiopian federation filed a request to disqualify Hassan, which was denied by the appeals panel.) Hassan held his ground and moved forward, but continued to look back, even when it was clear Asefa was no match for him. hit
“At the end I thought: “It’s just a 100m sprint. Come on, Sifan! One more,” he said.
The tireless Dutchwoman clocked 2:22:55, breaking the Olympic record set by Ethiopian Tiki Gelana 12 years ago in London (2:23:07). Asefa finished in 2:22:58 for the silver medal. At the same time, Obiri (2:23:10) won the bronze ahead of Lokedi (2:23:14). Beriso Shankule (2:23:57), Suzuki (2:24:02) and Meringor (2:24:56) followed, while Jepchirchir (2:26:51) finished 15th.
Lindwurm (2:26:44) was the top American in 12th, while compatriot Emily Sisson (2:29:53) was 23rd. “I’m happy to be here for sure,” Lindwurm told Race Results Weekly. “This was a lot of fun. I tried to black out as much as possible and think as little as possible. But I also tried to get wet for some moments. It was so great, I think I was hearing, “USA, USA!”
This was Hasan’s sixth Olympic medal in his career. Three years ago in Tokyo, she won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters and bronze in the 1,500. In Paris, he tackled a more ambitious schedule, covering more than 62 km/38 miles in 10 days. She won bronze medals in both the 5,000 on Aug. 5 and the 10,000 on Aug. 9, a day and a half before the marathon.
“At every moment during the race, I regretted that I ran the 5000 and 10000,” admitted 31-year-old Hasan. “I kept telling myself that if I hadn’t done that, I would have felt great today. It was so hard from start to finish.”
He said he feels comfortable after the 20-K mark.
“Then I realized I wanted gold,” he said. “But everyone else was fresh and I was just thinking, “When will they break? They will go hard, they will go hard.
Hassan has established himself as the most versatile runner of his generation, with personal bests ranging from 1:56.81 in the 800 meters to 2:13:44 in the marathon, which he won in Chicago last fall. He held world records in the mile and 10,000 meters and won a world title in the 1,500. Still, it was a humbling moment.
“I have so many emotions,” she said. “I challenged myself every step of the way, and now I’m so grateful that I didn’t have too many rejections on the track. I dreaded this race. I am an Olympic champion. what can I say?’
FINISHING
