Sifan Hassan completed a remarkable week with an Olympic gold medal in the women’s marathon, having earlier won bronze medals in two long-distance track events.
Just 36 hours after finishing third in the 10,000 metres final, Hassan revived and won the marathon in an Olympic record time of two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds.
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner, who won bronze in the 5,000 metres on Tuesday, became Europe’s first winner of the event since Romania’s Constantina Dita-Tomescu in 2008.
Hassan, already a double Olympic champion with Tokyo 2020 gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m, beat Ethiopia’s Tigste Assefa by three seconds in a sprint finish, while Hellen Obiri of Kenya took bronze.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Hassan said. “At the end I thought, ‘It’s just a 100-meter race. Come on, Sifan. One more race. Just feel it like one would a 200-meter race.'”
How Hassan won a historic marathon gold
Hassan employed the same strategy she uses on the track over the 26.2-mile hilly course, as she stayed behind the leaders for most of the race before mustering energy to take the lead in what would go down as one of the greatest races the sport has ever seen.
Surprisingly, the race mirrored a crowded race down the oval. As Hassan tried to make his final pass, Assefa tried to block his path and Hassan moved to the inside around turn one.
Assefa tried to push her against the barrier separating the course from the cheering fans. The runners exchanged elbows, then Hassan overtook Assefa and sprinted to victory. By completing the marathon, she had run more than 62 kilometers in races within the week and now has six Olympic medals.
Hassan went into the Games intent on matching Emil Zatopek’s 1952 performance, when the Czech sprinter won the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon at the Helsinki Games but walked away with a gold medal and two bronze medals.
Hassan enjoys memorable Olympics
Great Britain’s Clara Evans finished 46th, over 10 minutes behind Hassan’s winning time but still a season’s best, while her compatriot Rose Harvey finished 78th and Kelly Hauger-Thackery failed to finish the race.
What happened in the men’s marathon?
A day earlier, Great Britain’s Emile Carres finished fourth in the men’s marathon, which was won by Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola in an Olympic record.
Tola won the title in two hours six minutes and 26 seconds, claiming his country’s first gold medal of the Games. Belgium’s Bashir Abdi won the silver in 2:06.47, while Kenya’s Benson Kipruto took the bronze in 2:07.00.
Keres – who qualified for the Paris Olympics by finishing third at the London Marathon in April – finished fourth in 2:07.29, while Eliud Kipchoge, aiming to win an unprecedented third successive Olympic title, failed to finish the race.
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