The Dutchwoman sealed the “Zatopec moment” with a stunning marathon victory that completed a hat-trick of medals.
When the press conference of the women’s 10,000m medal winners took place in Paris, one of the top three was absent.
Sifan Hasan, who won a bronze in the 5000m to add to the same colour, can be vindicated. He still had work to do.
As the press conference ended, 10,000m champion Beatrice Chebetti and silver medalist Nadia Battocleti were asked how they would feel if they still had a marathon to run and only had one day to recover. Their slightly nervous, slightly confused laughs at the very thought told its own story.
But that was the assignment given to him by Hasan. He had competed in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m at the Tokyo Games, a route that had raised more than the odd eyebrow, but switching to the marathon this time around seemed downright silly. For the first half of her 26.2-mile journey on the final day of athletics, the Dutchwoman agreed.
Sifan Hasan (Getty)
“Every moment I regretted running the 5,000m and 10,000m,” he said. “I was telling myself. “If I hadn’t done that, I’d feel great today.” It was so hard from start to finish. I thought at every step. “Why did I do that?” What is wrong with me?’
However, with around 20km to go, the tide began to turn, and the fact that Hassan finished first on the course with Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa was both stunning and not at all surprising.
Running the speed that made him world 1500m champion in 2019, and using good old-fashioned brute force as he and Assefa clashed with elbows as the Ethiopian appeared to try to block his rival, Hassan delivered an impressively fitting finale to the Games.
Sifan Hassan – Tigist Assefa To save Sifan Hassan click Download mp3 youtube com
The last athlete to win medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon at one Games was Emil Zatopek in 1952, and by breaking the Olympic record of 2:22:55 on the toughest courses after winning by just three seconds, the 31-year-old carved out her own slice of history. the piece
“When I finished, the whole moment was freedom,” said Hasan, who covered a total race distance of 62km during Paris 2024. “It’s unbelievable. I have never experienced anything like this. Not even the other marathons I’ve run have come close to this one.
“When I finished, I couldn’t help but celebrate. I felt dizzy. I wanted to lie down. Then I thought. “I am an Olympic champion. How is that possible? I dreaded this race. In the end I thought. “It’s just a 100m sprint. Come on, Sifan! One more. Just feel it like someone doing a 200m sprint.”
» This article first appeared in the September issue of AW magazine. Subscribe to AW Magazine herecheck out our new podcast! here or subscribe to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
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