Sifan Hassan explains the mixed feelings she experienced before making her marathon debut.
Sifan Hassan has come a long way in her career and her transition from 5000 and 10000-meter races to marathon has been nothing short of impressive.
The Olympic marathon champion launched her marathon career in 2023, during the London marathon, winning her debut marathon in a course record of 2:28:33 and is set to return to the same course again in April.
Dutch woman Sifan Hassan has disclosed the Kenyan marathoner she fears the most as she disclosed that Faith Kipyegon is destined for more success if she moves to the marathon.
Before setting her heart on the marathon, Sifan Hassan said she wasn’t sure of what to expect. In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, the Tokyo Olympic 5000m champion said. “I’m going to finish the distance or the distance is going to finish me.”
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Perhaps Sifan Hassan’s mixed feeling was as a result of the records set in the 42km distance. Of the top 10 women’s marathon times in history, nine of them have been set in the past five years. In fact, eight of the times were set between 2022 and 2024, with six of the times coming in the last two years alone.
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The Dutchwoman added another title to her trophy cabinet as her stellar career takes shape.
Recent advances in training techniques and shoe technology have enabled today’s marathon runners to set times previously thought to be decades away, and Hassan has been one of the athletes at the forefront of this running revolution.
The Ethiopian-born athlete won the London Marathon in a dramatic race that saw her trail by up to 28 seconds at one stage of the race. But even though she is relatively new to the event, Hassan’s ability to adapt to the unique challenges of the marathon while still competing at the highest level on track has been nothing short of extraordinary.
At Paris 2024, she took on the challenge of the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon, winning bronze in the first two and gold in the latter. Hassan has come a long way from the days before her first marathon attempt. However, as an athlete who has made a career out of taking on outrageous challenges, you won’t want to miss the next stage of her journey as she aims to take marathon running into a sphere never seen before.
