Sifan Hassan capped off a outstanding week by profitable Olympic gold within the ladies’s marathon, having already received two bronze medals in two long-distance athletics occasions.
Simply 36 hours after ending third within the 10,000m closing, Hassan restarted and received the marathon in an Olympic report time of two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds.
The Ethiopian-born Dutchman additionally received bronze within the 5,000m on Tuesday, turning into the primary European medalist since Romania’s Constantina Dita-Tomescu in 2008. The primary participant to win this occasion.
Already a two-time Olympic champion, having received gold medals within the 5,000m and 10,000m at Tokyo 2020, Hassan beat Ethiopian Tigste Assefa by three seconds within the dash. Kenyan Helen Obiri received the bronze medal.
“I felt like I used to be in a dream,” Hassan stated. “On the finish I assumed, ‘That is only a 100m sprint. Come on, Sifan. Do it once more. Really feel it like a 200m dasher’.”
How Hassan received historic marathon gold
Hassan used the identical technique on the hilly 26.2-mile course as she did on the observe, lingering behind the leaders for a lot of the race earlier than mustering the vitality late within the race for a kick that will change into One of the best the game has ever seen.
Surprisingly, the race regarded extra like a crowded race on an oval observe. Assefa tried to dam her method as Hassan gathered for the ultimate move and Hassan moved inside on the flip.
Assefa tried to push her in opposition to the barrier that separated the stadium from cheering followers. The runners change elbows, then Hassan overtakes Assefah and sprints for the win. By merely finishing a marathon, she ran greater than 62 kilometers in a single week and now has six Olympic medals.
Hassan went into the Olympics hoping to match Emil Zatopek’s efficiency in 1952, when the Czech runner swept the 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon on the Helsinki Video games, however in Got here away with just one gold medal and two bronze medals.
Britain’s Clara Evans completed forty sixth, greater than 10 minutes behind Hassan’s profitable time however nonetheless a season’s finest, whereas compatriot Rose Harvey completed 78th Identify, Calli Hauger-Thackery didn’t end the sport.
What occurred to the boys’s marathon?
A day earlier, Britain’s Emile Cairess had a robust efficiency within the males’s marathon, ending a formidable fourth and Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola breaking the Olympic report .
Tola received the title in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 26 seconds, giving the nation its first gold medal of the Video games. Bashir Abdi of Belgium received the silver medal in 2:06.47, and Benson Kipruto of Kenya received the bronze medal in 2:07.00.
Keres, who certified for the Paris Olympics after ending third in April’s London Marathon, completed fourth in 2:07.29, whereas Eliud Kipchoge was aiming for an unprecedented consecutive run. Gained the Olympic title for the third time however failed to complete the race.
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