The Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan won the women’s marathon at Paris 2024 this Sunday by beating the Ethiopian Tigst Assefa in a sprint finish and setting a new Olympic record for the event.
The Dutch athlete had enough energy to change pace in the last 300 meters and crossed the finish line in 2:22:55.
Hassan surprised everyone weeks ago when she announced her intention to compete in four distances at Paris 2024: the 1,500 m, the 5,000 m, the 10,000 m, and the marathon. Although she ultimately withdrew from the shortest distance, she completed the medal triplet at the Olympics in brilliant fashion with a record-breaking gold in the marathon.
With this historic victory, Hassan became the first woman to stand on the podium in these three distances in the same edition of the Games, something that only Emil Zatopek achieved among men. The Czech did it in Helsinki 1952, winning the gold medal in all three events.
Hassan, who was initially entered to compete in all four events, caused genuine surprise in the world of athletics when she attempted an unprecedented triplet in Tokyo three years ago.
Hassan, one of the toughest competitors on the track, fell in her first 1,500 elimination round, but she fought back and secured the bronze.
Later, she declared that the stress of chasing the Tokyo schedule left her exhausted, but she was all smiles when announcing a new and grueling program for Paris.
“I am very curious about what is going to happen,” the Ethiopian-born runner told the press at the time.
The schedule left her with less than 48 hours between the final of the 10,000 and the marathon, which is an extremely tough task, but surprisingly, she managed it today.
Hassan had already shown that she can be a lethal force in the marathon, winning in her debut in London in 2023 and later that same year in Chicago, where she broke the tape in the second-best
time in history.