The Netherlands’ Hassan, an Ethiopian-born racer, set an Olympic record with a time of two hours, twenty-two minutes, and fifty-five seconds.
With 150 meters remaining in the women’s marathon, Sifan Hassan exchanged elbows with Tigst Assefa before passing her over the railing to win the race and earn her third distance medal of the Paris Games on Sunday.
Racer Hassan, who represents the Netherlands, was born in Ethiopia and set an Olympic record with a time of two hours, twenty-two minutes, and fifty-five seconds. Ethiopia’s Assefa finished third, three seconds behind Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, who won bronze.
The Ethiopian team protested, hoping that Hassan would be disqualified for obstruction, but the Jury of Appeal dismissed their claim. Hassan appeared to be obstructed twice by Assefa before they exchanged elbows.
As he crossed the line, Hassan held up her hands and shouted, then celebrated by encircling her head with the Dutch flag. She put her arm around Shantoshi Shrestha of Nepal, who was grinning as brightly as the sun shining down on them, and he was wearing an orange bucket hat.
Then Hassan put her head in her hands and seemed to cry with happiness as she realized how big of a win this was.
Hassan, 31, also took home bronze in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters. She ran over 62 kilometers just by finishing the marathon. Six Olympic medals are now held by her. Hassan placed third in the 1,500 and won the 5,000 and 10,000 in Tokyo.
In defiance of custom, the women’s Olympic marathon took place on the last day rather than the men’s competition.
In the hilly 26.2-mile course, Hassan employed the same strategy as she does on the oval. She spent most of the race trailing the leaders before gathering her strength for a late-race kick that will go down as one of the best sport has seen.
Amazingly, this one appeared more like a packed oval race down the stretch. Assefa attempted to obstruct Hassan’s path as she gathered to make her final pass. Hassan rounded a corner and moved inside.
Assefa attempted to press her up against the wall that divided the race course from the enthusiastic spectators. After exchanging elbows, Hassan blasted ahead of Assefa and dashed in to win.
After all, she’s used to achieving success the hard way.
When she stumbled during a heat of the 1,500 meters at the Tokyo Games three years ago, but managed to get back up and win the race, her legend began to take shape. She continued by taking the bronze.
She was training for this accomplishment, which involved traveling a total of 38.5 miles over ten days while competing for Olympic medals, which is part of the reason she wasn’t as dominant the previous two years.
With two races this past Monday (the 5,000 meters) and Friday (the 10,000 meters), Hassan had about 35 hours to recover for the marathon.
Her goal going into the competition was to equal the feat of Emil Zatopek, the Czech runner who won the 5,000, 10,000, and marathon events at the Helsinki Games in 1952.
Although she was unable to complete the task, she departs with a brilliant gold medal.
Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi came in fourth, while her countryman and reigning champion Peres Jepchirchir came in fifteenth.
Twenty-one miles, or nearly thirty-four kilometers, later, Jepchirchir began to regress. At that point, Hassan and Obiri—a two-time 5,000-meter Olympic silver medallist—joined Lokedi and Amane Beriso Shankule at the front.
Near the finish, Shankule slowed down, making it a four-way race for gold. However, Lokedi faltered as they approached the finish line in front of the gold-domed Invalides monument, which houses the tomb of the French emperor Napoleon.
Since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, which took place 88 years after the first-ever men’s race was won by Greek runner Spiridon Louis, women have participated in the discipline.
The marathon route is noteworthy because it follows the path of a famous march that happened during the French Revolution.
Women in the Paris market organized the 1789 Women’s March on Versailles to protest the exorbitant price of bread, and they marched from Paris to Versailles.
The route began at the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) and traveled through the various parks and forests along the way. The somewhat hilly route was described as extremely difficult with inclines as steep as 13%, despite its scenic aspect.
Running alongside iconic sites like the Louvre and Opéra Garnier, runners enjoyed the blue skies. They went by the Palace of Versailles, the former residence of French royalty, approximately halfway through. Then, they made a U-turn and returned through the Meudon forest, passing the Eiffel Tower and toward Paris.
The runners faced a steep hill after traveling about 18 miles (29 kilometers), and the descent was difficult as well. To keep from falling forward, they raised their arms in a balancing gesture. Yuka Suzuki of Japan nearly collided with a runner in front of her.
Suzuki came in sixth place, trailing Shankule.
