‘How is this possible?’ Sifan Hassan completes gruelling Paris run with marathon gold

PARIS – Sifan Hassan sprinted through the finish of the marathon and straight into the pantheon of Olympic greats on Aug 11, completing her astonishing Games agenda with a gold medal after taking bronze in both the 5,000m and 10,000m.

A hundred years on from Paavo Nurmi’s five golds in Paris, the 2024 Games got the athletics hero they had been waiting for in Hassan, who became the first since Czech Emil Zatopek in 1952 to medal in those three events.

“Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5,000m and 10,000m. I was telling myself if I hadn’t done that, I would feel great today,” said the 31-year-old Dutchwoman.

“From the beginning to the end, it was so hard. Every step of the way, I was thinking, ‘Why did I do that? What is wrong with me?’ If I hadn’t done it, I would feel so comfortable here.”

Hassan stunned fans three years ago when she attempted a rare Olympic treble in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m – taking bronze in the shorter distance and winning the two longer races.

She earned headlines again this time around with the inclusion of the marathon for Paris.

Throngs of reporters tuned in to hear her announce which she would actually run, with few predicting she would really try the gruelling distance road run on top of the two longer track events.

“For anyone else, this would be insane,” retired sprint legend Michael Johnson declared. But not for Hassan, who has built a reputation as one of her sport’s toughest fighters.

And 36 hours after the 10,000m wrapped up across town at the Stade de France, Hassan was on the starting line, becoming the first woman to attempt all three – and admitted she was scared to try it.

She battled with Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia and managed to shake her off in the last stretch, crossing the finish line in an Olympic record time of 2hr 22min 55sec. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri took the bronze.

All told, the two-time marathon major winner raced a total of 62.2km in Paris.

“When I finished, the whole moment was a release. It is unbelievable. I have never experienced anything like that. Even the other marathons I have run were not close to this,” she said.

“I couldn’t stop celebrating. I was feeling dizzy. I wanted to lie down. Then I thought, ‘I am the Olympic champion. How is this possible?’.”

Hassan’s outstanding grit has won over not only fans, but also her rivals.

“She’s just awesome. Who can do that? Who can come from track and win the marathon?” said Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, who finished fourth.

“I feel like I just want to be her.”

In other athletics action, Hungary’s Michelle Gulyas won women’s modern pentathlon gold with a world-record points haul in the sport’s last final featuring horses before a switch to obstacle courses.

She finished with 1,461 points, nine more than France’s Elodie Clouvel, whose time in hitting all the laser targets during four shooting stops in the 3,000m run was by far the slowest of the field. South Korea’s Seong Seung-min collected the bronze.

Later, Serbia extended their Olympic water polo reign by beating Croatia 13-11 for a third successive gold in the men’s event in front of a roaring crowd who lapped up the Balkan battle at Paris La Defense Arena. The United States pipped Hungary to the bronze.

Meanwhile, Denmark clinched their second men’s Olympic handball gold medal when they beat Germany 39-26 in the final as one of the sport’s greats, Mikkel Hansen, retired on a high.

It was Denmark’s second title in the last three Games, having played all three finals in Rio – where they won – Tokyo and Paris.

Spain edged out Slovenia 23-22 in the bronze-medal match earlier.

In volleyball, top-ranked Italy dominated the US to win the women’s final, crushing the defending champions in straight sets 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 to claim their first gold medal.

The Americans had more joy in the women’s basketball final, narrowly beating France 67-66 to seal their eighth straight title as the final French shot was counted as two points. A’ja Wilson scored a game-high 21 points for the US, who won their 10th gold overall.

In other final day action, wrestling powerhouse Japan bagged two freestyle golds through Kotaro Kiyooka and Yuka Kagami to boost their bumper harvest at the Champ de Mars Arena.

The Asian nation finished their campaign with eight golds – three more than in Tokyo in 2021 – with Iran, Bulgaria and the US all trailing far behind with two apiece.

At the velodrome, American defending champion Jennifer Valente overpowered the field to retain her women’s omnium title.

She finished 13 points ahead of Poland’s Daria Pikulik, with New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston taking bronze, six points further back.

On the men’s side, flying Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen confirmed his status as the king of men’s sprinting by winning the keirin to complete a hat-trick at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome.

Lavreysen flew around the final corner to beat Australia’s Matthew Richardson, who took the silver ahead of his compatriot Matthew Glaetzer. The 27-year-old also won the men’s sprint and team sprint earlier in the week.

Elsewhere, China’s Li Wenwen defended her title with a dominant performance to win the women’s over-81kg weightlifting.

She did not come close to threatening her own world record of 335kg, but her 309kg total was more than enough to see off second-placed Park Hye-jeong of South Korea and Britain’s bronze medallist Emily Campbell.
REUTERS, AFP