Sifan Hassan makes her debut at the London marathon, winning in dramatic fashion
Image: Andrew Boyes/Reuters
Ethiopian-born athlete Sifan Hassan has once again defied the odds placing first in the London Marathon with a time of 2:18:33. After an impressive performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she won gold medals in both the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters, as well as a bronze medal in the 1500 meters, this was Hassan’s debut marathon. The win was even more profound given the many obstacles Hassan faced during the race – she needed to stop twice to stretch due to an injury, and at one point was almost hit by a race motorcycle when stopping to get a drink.
“I was born for drama,” Hassan said in a post-race interview.
After the hard-earned win, the 30-year-old athlete also described the anxiety she had been feeling prior to the race, “when I woke up this morning I was telling myself I was stupid to run a marathon, and what is wrong with me,” Hassan said.“I was so scared I even cried. And when I talked to my manager I asked him: ‘Why am I doing this?’”
Hassan is no stranger to resilience. Born in Oromia, Ethiopia, she left at the age of fifteen as a refugee and sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2008. As she transitioned into the country, she moved into a house with other asylum seekers and expressed to her supervisor that she wanted to be a runner but didn’t have the proper shoes to do so.
She began her official training a few years later while studying nursing and has since built an incredible, record-breaking legacy. Hassan’s accomplishments include world records for both the one mile and 5 kilometer road race (2019), five European records for the 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 5000 meters, 10,000 meters, and the half marathon, as well as her Olympic medals. Next in her sights, Hassan returns to training with plans to compete at the World Championships in Budapest taking place in August. In the longer term, she will look to also make her mark at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Video: The Telegraph
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Chris Filcidor
Chris is a proud East African, 30-something who currently lives in the United States, but whose heart will always be in her motherland Africa. Just like everyone else, she is clumsily trying to find her place in this crazy world with the hope of having some fun and learning as much as she can along the way.