The London Marathon-bound distance runner talks about the psychology behind his multiple medal-winning challenges, the “beauty” of doing tough things and the lessons the new generation of athletes need to learn.
After all, Sifan Hasan is human.Just a few days before this interview, the woman who made history by winning Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m bronze and then marathon gold in Paris went for a short run.
After a long break and a fall spent slowing down, catching up with old friends and family, “losing a lot of time and feeling a little lazy,” the 31-year-old was getting back to work.
“I ran 5km and it hurt,” she says.
Big grins and hearty giggles are never far away as far as Hassan is concerned. The pleasure he felt from that medal in 2024 clearly outweighs the pain. “I still have a big smile when I think about it.”
And rightfully so. Hasan became the first athlete since Emil Zatopek in 1952 to win medals in all three events at the same Games, a feat he followed with the 5,000m/10,000m and 1,500m bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Sifan Hassan (GSC)
The woman, who has run a total of four marathons so far, suggested that her next big goal would be to complete that same number of 26.2-mile efforts in a year and, given the grueling nature of these challenges, the very fact that she lends itself to such an enormous burden, will suggest innate fearlessness and unwavering confidence.The reality is quite different;
Hassan has spent most of her life feeling the fear and doing it anyway. It was in 2008 when the then 15-year-old girl moved as a refugee from her native Ethiopia to the Netherlands, a country she now competes for with such distinction. : So was when he moved to America in 2017 to work with now-disgraced coach Alberto Salazar at the now-defunct Nike Oregon Project (Tim Rowberry became his head coach after Salazar’s ban.) These were huge leaps, but they were life-changing.
Sifan Hassan and Tim Rowbury (GSC)
“When I came to the Netherlands and then decided to go to America, those were the most difficult moments, but also beautiful things happened to me because of the challenge. “I made some decisions that I thought were impossible, but I tried , that’s why I’m not afraid to try.
“My thoughts come. I am a normal person. I can be afraid. I always doubt it, but because I’ve been through so much trouble, even when I’m scared, I still try. Every time I look back, that’s the key for me, but it’s also beautiful.”
How difficult was it for Hassan, a teenager who grew up in rural Ethiopia, to adjust to life in central Europe?After his arrival, he moved to a shelter for young asylum seekers, but has always kept his secret as to why he left his country in the first place.
“It’s a completely different culture, and then you have to make friends, you have to adapt to the way you live, the way you eat, the way people live, and even the weather,” he says have to live like that. Time makes it better.”
Sifan Hasan (GSC)
When he moved home with other asylum seekers, Hassan told his boss he would like to run. He joined the athletics club, where his talent soon became apparent. His first career honor came in 2013 with a gold medal at the European Under-23 Championships, and before the next difficult decision in his life had to be made, more success followed.
“The hardest moment came when I had to make the decision to move on, to dream bigger and move to America. I was already a real good indoor champion and I was winning the Diamond League in the finals, but then it happened. “I’m going to go to America. What if it doesn’t work?”
“It scared me so much. ‘What if I go there and it doesn’t work out?’
“If I go to America and it doesn’t work for a year, two years, I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to give up. I imagined myself as having nothing and I also imagined myself lucky, so I made that decision anyway.
“My success has been so beautiful when it comes to things like doing three events in Tokyo and Paris because those moments (in my life) were so difficult that it makes those (racing) decisions easier. My curiosity trumps my fear “.
Sifan Hasan (GSC)
That curiosity has been a major driving force in the decisions Hasan has made in his professional career and in the many Olympic missions he has embarked on. His next big challenge will be the London Marathon on April 27, a distance that Hasan admits continues teach him lessons.
His first attempt came in London 2023, when an erratic performance, which included two stops and a stretch, ended with him sprinting to victory on The Mall. before finishing fourth in Tokyo last year, which preceded the extraordinary flying finish in Paris that saw off Tigist Assefa.
“I’m crazy curious, and I’m also a high-risk person,” Hassan adds happiness, and that’s why people care about it.
“I’ve run four marathons, all of them different. In London, I was celebrating in the last 5km, I didn’t even feel any pain. Then in Chicago, I was in so much pain in the last three or four kilometers. I was in world record shape, but a marathon drains your energy very slowly, so in the latter stages I hated the marathon and said, I just wanted to sit down.
“Tokyo was completely different and Paris was so hard to do the last 200m/300m. My brain took over my body. My brain was just telling me what to do I felt like a person who had just fallen asleep, but woke up at that moment.”
Sifan Hasan (LM Events)
“It feels so special to be back at the TCS London Marathon,” says Hasan. “It’s where I ran my first marathon and started my journey at this incredible distance. London is also where I learned to be patient, trust myself and keep going.” push forward, even when it seems impossible. It’s a place where I’ve grown not only as an athlete, but as a person.”
Another marathon performance that caught the world’s attention last year was Ruth Chepngetic’s world record run of 2:09:56 in Chicago. was the world record holder in the mile and 10,000 meters, claims to feel excited.
“It was unbelievable and my brain couldn’t process it at the time,” he says of Chepngetic’s run. after I worked it out I was really happy that he did it. I don’t care how he did it or how he trained or any of that, but he showed that possible.
“Maybe it takes me longer to work hard and get there, but she’s shown me that it’s possible. A woman can run sub-2:10, and that makes things easier for me. Now that I’m training, I don’t mind Is it possible or not? I’m trying to hit that thing. In my time, I want to see how women can go further, to see what’s inside me and what I can do.
“I don’t want to get to 55 and see a woman running amazingly well and think, When Faith (Kipyegon) broke my mile world record, people were telling me, “You must be so sad,” but I said. “It’s great. He showed me (it can be broken).”
Sifan Hasan (Getty)
The role of shoe technology in pushing those boundaries is a talking point that won’t go away , he believes it affects the mental toughness of some competitors.
“It really annoys me because it doesn’t matter what shoe it is, the athlete still has to work,” he says. “It’s good that we have it and that they’ve improved the technology, but it (just ) is not the shoe. I have to work hard.
“I overtrained before Paris, so if the shoe (does all the work), then how can I overtrain? Besides, the athlete who finishes number 1 and the athlete who finishes number 20, they’re wearing the same shoes. : It annoys me that they always say “it’s the technology”.
“Jos (Hasan’s manager and former athlete Jos Hermens) used to run 13:21 (5000m) in heavy shoes and (his generation) had a really strong mentality, but the new generation (all) don’t have that tough mentality. Now we always believe (the performance). g) due to doping, shoes or anything else.
“We don’t have to point to these other things. (Do it right) and you’ll be consistent and you’ll be able to wake up every morning and look in the mirror and be able to say ‘I did this’ and be proud of yourself.”
“The young generation must suffer, but because of the shoes, when they feel pain, they think, ‘I am not talented.’ They go home because they have the wrong idea in their heads. I suffer, I throw up, I cry (and the shoes can’t help it).
Talking to Hassan is never boring, and the same can be said when he’s running. Just don’t think that getting to the starting line was easy.
» In addition to Hasan, reigning Olympic and Paralympic champions Tamirat Tola, Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hoog will also compete in London on April 27.
Documents – Sifan Hasan
Was born. January 1, 1993
Events800m/1500m/mile/3000m/5000m/10000m/Half Marathon/Marathon
PBs1:56.81/3:51.95/4:12.33/8:18.49/14:13.42/29:06.82/65:15/2:13:44
Main rewards:
2024: Olympic marathon gold, 5000m and 10,000m bronze
2023: World Championships 5000m silver and 1500m bronze
2021: Olympic 5000m and 10000m gold, 1500m bronze
2019: World Championships 1500m and 10,000m gold
2018 world indoor championships 3000m silver and 1500m bronze; European Championship 5000 m gold
2017: World Championships 5000m bronze
2016: World Indoor Championships 1500m gold; European Championship 1500 m silver
2015: World Championships 1500m bronze; European indoor championship 1500 m gold; European senior gold
2014: European Championships 1500m gold and 5000m silver
2013 European Under-23 Championship gold
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