Dutch runner Sifan Hassan trying to win the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon in Paris. 'It is very hard.'
Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women's 5,000-meters final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP/Petr David Josek
PARIS — Attempting to defend her 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles at the Olympics isn’t enough for Ethiopian-born Dutch runner Sifan Hassan. She also will push herself in the ultimate test of endurance, adding the marathon to her program at the Paris Games.
“I can’t tell you I’m going to get the gold medal in every event,” Hassan said Wednesday. “It is very hard.”
Hassan’s program will look like this:
The 5,000 heats on Friday and the final on Monday.
The 10,000 on Friday, Aug. 9.
The marathon on Sunday, Aug. 11.
In all, she’ll compete over a whopping 62 kilometers (38.6 miles) — nearly far enough to run from Paris to Versailles and back twice. And she’ll have roughly only 35 hours between the end of the 10,000 and the marathon.
Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, wins the women's 10,000-meter run final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo. Credit: AP/David J. Phillip
“I’m curious what is going to happen,” Hassan said. “My biggest goal is to finish the event(s). And how I’m going to recover.”
Hassan could have run a fourth event, having earned bronze in the 1,500 in Tokyo.
But now she can match Emil Zatopek’s exploit from 1952, when the Czech runner swept the 5,000, 10,000 and the marathon at the Helsinki Games.
When Hassan started winning multiple events earlier in her career, she learned about Zatopek and watched a film about him.
“I started studying and was really inspired, became a big fan of him,” she said. “I watched two times this movie. … I really never thought I would become like him. … He’s an (inspiration).”
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