Hassan won her second medal and was glad that the 10,000m wasn’t too fast – she’s looking forward to the marathon

“On to the next one.” Sifan Hassan posted this message on Instagram after winning bronze in the 5,000 meters last Monday. She was, of course, happy with her medal, which went from bronze to silver to bronze after the disqualification of Kenya’s Faith Kipiyegon was overturned. But she had stood on the highest podium in this distance, and Hassan couldn’t hide the fact that this was mainly the first leg.

Friday night was the second leg. As with the 5,000m, Hassan would defend her Tokyo Olympic title in the 10,000m. When the entries were announced, they walked briskly onto the track. Hassan jogged after it. She didn’t practice the start, just lingered with her hands on her hips until she was allowed to start. Everything indicated that she wanted to waste as little energy as possible.

Awakened by the marathon

The first part of the race went slowly, exactly how Hassan liked it. She knew she might have a better chance of success in a faster race, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the marathon. She woke up Thursday to Friday night with the marathon route in her mind.

Halfway through the race, the lead group began to emerge and slowly began to run faster and faster. Hassan saw the danger and pounced on a few stragglers, then Diane Van Es swung over them. It was clear that Hassan’s time to win the gold medal in Japan would no longer be below thirty minutes. After the race, Hassan thanked her God inwardly, otherwise she would have completely collapsed after the race.

The race will end with a long sprint, lasting more than half a lap. Hassan is in a better position this time than she was last Monday, when she had to work hard to close a too-large gap to the two leaders. She chased down Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet and Italy’s Nadia Bartocleti, and as she did so she found her legs were not sore.

This game is a good omen for Sunday

She thought she had done too much marathon training. You need to be able to go deep into the red to generate that final speed boost, but she couldn’t. That in itself is a good sign for a marathon, but not for running faster races on the track. Hassan was unable to catch Chebet and Batokleti and ultimately crossed the finish line in third place.

Another bronze, a beautiful medal, confirming that Hassan is in great form. But the “most important thing” she called it after the race is yet to come. The marathon is Hassan’s big challenge. She wants another medal so she can soon become the first woman to win medals in both track and field and road races at the same Olympics.

Meanwhile, Hassan said she particularly wants to complete these three distances. She is looking forward to the release of beautiful hormones because she has done something special. She still has time to perform at her best, and she can still participate in the marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics in four years, then the gold medal may be a more realistic option.

But now she has to recover first, starting with her cool downand then stayed in bed all Saturday. She preferred to skip the 10,000-meter awards ceremony scheduled for Saturday night. There was less than 35 hours between the end of the 10,000-meter race (around 9:30 p.m.) and the start of the marathon at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. That’s why Hassan quickly ended her talk with the media. Continue to the next article.

Correction (August 9, 2024): In an earlier version of this article, Diane van Es’s name was misspelled. It has been corrected above.

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