'It wasn't perfect' - Sifan Hassan on why it was terrifying to compete in three distances at the Paris Olympics
Hassan competed in three grueling races at the Paris Olympics, winning marathon gold and bronze in both 5000m and 10000m
Paris Olympics marathon champion Sifan Hassan has revealed why she made a decision to take part in three races at the 2024 Paris Games.
The 31-year-old claimed 5000m and 10,000m bronze before winning the marathon in an Olympic record.
The Dutchwoman was honored at the World Athletics Awards 2024 in Monaco on December 1 where she won the women’s out of stadium category before being named as women’s World Athlete of the Year.
"This year, my curiosity pushed me to take a risk and compete in three distances at the Paris Olympics. It was terrifying, and that made each finish line more meaningful. It wasn’t perfect, but sometimes happiness comes from embracing imperfections," she told World Athletics.
The Paris 2024 marathon course went down as one of the toughest and most challenging in Olympic history, taking place in grueling conditions and featuring one long, sustained climb and a second almost vertiginous climb around the 29km marker before a long, steep, giddy downhill stretch heading back into the city center.
Hassan said she studied the Paris course very well and familiarity gave her the confidence that she had what it takes to reign supreme in the French capital. She added that her Tokyo experience came in handy too.
"After I ran the Tokyo marathon, I looked at the Paris course. I started really practising to run 600m up, then 800m down. I did it so often that I couldn’t sit down, I couldn’t run. I almost injured myself," said the Tokyo Olympics 10000m champion.
“My coach said to me: ‘Why are you only focusing on this?’ And I said: ‘You didn’t see what I saw!’ Really, before Paris, I overtrained. I felt like I was done," the 5000m Tokyo Olympics champion maintained.
Her marathon win in an Olympic record of 2:22:55 came just 37 hours after Hassan had won 10,000m bronze, and six days after her 5000m bronze.
posted Wednesday December 4th
by Evans Ousuru