(Paris) A monument in the middle of Parisian heritage: the Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan achieved the colossal feat of winning the Olympic marathon on Sunday after having already won bronze medals in the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the Paris Games.
In Paris, from the purple track of the Stade de France to the asphalt of the Paris region, Hassan (31 years old) measured herself against the legendary hat-trick of the Czech Emil Zatopek, achieved at the 1952 Games in Helsinki: she finished this crazy sequence with three medals.
No one has achieved such a feat since Zatopek, who won gold in all three distances.
At the end of the marathon, the versatile Dutchwoman emerged victorious in 2 hours 22 minutes 55 seconds of a breathtaking final against the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa, finally beaten by three seconds. The Kenyan Hellen Obiri, third at 15 seconds, completed the podium.
PHOTO VADIM GHIRDA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sifan Hassan shed a few tears after crossing the finish line.
In total, Hassan ran 62,195 high-intensity kilometres over 10 days and started the marathon – only her fourth – less than 35 hours after the finish of the 10,000m.
Briefly distanced
Even the unusual and hilly course of the Olympic marathon, a round trip from Paris to Versailles with a series of climbs and descents in the heart of the race, did not get the better of her.
However, for a few minutes we thought that this was going to be the case, when the middle-distance runner turned marathon runner was left behind on the main difficulty, the formidable Pavé des Gardes hill, around the 28th.e kilometer. But she found the resources to get back to the leading group.
A scenario reminiscent of her first marathon, in London in April 2023, when she briefly stopped, with a hip problem, before setting off again and finally winning.
On the streets of Paris on Sunday morning, there were still five women in contention for victory two kilometres from the finish line in the prestigious setting of the Esplanade des Invalides. But no one, not even Assefa, could resist Hassan when she ran away in a breathtaking final sprint.
PHOTO LISA LEUTNER, REUTERS
Sifan Hassan
Tokyo Triptych
Hassan is used to extraordinary challenges. Three years ago at the Tokyo Games, she ran 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m and won two gold medals in the two longest distances, plus a bronze. This is unprecedented in a single edition of the Olympic Games.
“It’s curiosity that drives me to do all these races,” Hassan explained earlier this week. “When I’m at home, I always want to do four or five events. And once I’m in the stadium, I think to myself: ‘Damn, why am I doing this? Why did I decide to do this? I shouldn’t have!’”
“I don’t know if everyone who runs the marathon is afraid of it or if I’m the only one, but I was scared to death before this race,” Hassan admitted a few days ago.
This did not stop her from writing a golden page in the history of sport.