Sifan Hassan achieved the most remarkable feat in Paris completing her treble bid with medals also in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
In 40 years, no athlete has ever attempted to run all three distances in the Olympics. Hassan was not even sure that she could do it, but she did it.
Only one other athlete, the great Czech runner Emil Zátopek, has ever medalled in all three events, when captured golds in all three in Helsinki in 1952.
“I have no words. Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters. I was telling myself if I hadn’t done that, I would feel great today,” Hassan said after the race.
“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.
“The moment I started to feel good at 20 kilometres, I felt so good. Then I knew I wanted gold. But everybody else was fresh and all I was thinking was, ‘When are they going to break? They’re going to go hard, they’re going to go hard.’”
The persistent athlete grabbed gold, breaking the Olympic record in the marathon with a time of 2:22:55. Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa took silver and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri won bronze.
Hassan had been worried that she was going to break in one of the matches and she was not going to be able to carry all three.
“I’m freaking scared for the marathon,” she said on Monday.
Hassan has won Olympic medals ranging from the 1,500, to the 5,000 and the 10,000 marathon.
“I feel like I am dreaming. I only see people on the TV who are Olympic champions,” Hassan said.
“The marathon is something else, you know? When you do 42 kilometres in more than two hours and 20 minutes, then every single step you feel so hard and so painful.
“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. When I finished, 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?’”
