Dutch runner adds Olympic marathon gold medal to her unprecedented list of global titles.
SAINT-DENIS, France – It was a fashion statement that was true Sifan Hassan, fearless, defiant.
At end of a day in which she confirmed her status of the greatest female distance runner ever by winning the Olympic Games marathon, Hassan, the quiet, soft-spoken Dutch runner, sent a message around the world without saying a word.
Hassan stepped atop the medal podium during the closing ceremony at Stade de France Sunday night, wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering for Muslim women banned during these Paris Games by several sports federations including the French Olympic Committee.
It was a fitting ending to a day and a Games where Hassan, 31, defied her critics and the sports conventional wisdom by running an Olympic record 2 hours, 22 minutes, 55 seconds over a historic but hilly 26.2 mile course on a scorching morning and despite having already run three previous races, more than 12 miles of running in Paris.
Hassan sprinted away from Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa in the final 200 meters to knock 12 seconds off Ethiopian Tiki Gelana’s 12-year-old Olympic record and claim her third career gold medal, the sixth medal of her career.
“When I finished, the whole moment was a release,” Hassan said. “It is unbelievable. I have never experienced anything like that. 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?’”
It is a question that has often been asked through a career in which no athlete, male or female, has come close to matching her range.
She’s made a World Championship final at 800 meters, set the world record at 10,000 meters and won Olympic gold medals at three different distances.
“It’s so amazing to do track and marathon,” said Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, the bronze medalist Sunday at 2:23.
