 "Paris 2024: Sifan Hassan shatters Olympic Record in women's marathon, Bhutanese runner applauded past the finish line")
The spirit of the Olympics was on full display at the Paris Games on Sunday, the last day of competition. In the women’s marathon race, Sifan Hassan created history with an Olympic record time for her third medal of the Games.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more
At the other end, Bhutan’s Kinzang Lhamo crossed the finish line amid cheers and applause despite finishing an-hour-and-half after Hassan.
Dutchwoman Hassan sprinted through the marathon finish line and straight into the pantheon of Olympic greats, completing her astonishing Olympic agenda with a gold medal after taking bronze in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.
A hundred years on from Paavo Nurmi’s five golds in Paris, the 2024 Games got the athletics hero they had been waiting for in Hassan, who became the first since Czech Emil Zatopek in 1952 to medal in those three events.
“Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5000m and 10,000m. I was telling myself if I hadn’t done that, I would feel great today,” she said.
“From the beginning to the end, it was so hard. Every step of the way. I was thinking, ‘Why did I do that? What is wrong with me?’ If I hadn’t done it, I would feel so comfortable here.”
Hassan stunned fans three years ago when she attempted a rare Olympic treble in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m - taking bronze in the shorter distance and winning the two longer races.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsShe earned headlines again this time around, signing up for those three events as well as the marathon for Paris.
62 kilometres run, three medals won. 🥵
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 11, 2024
🥉 Olympic 5000m bronze
🥉 Olympic 10,000m bronze
🥇 Olympic marathon gold
Sifan Hassan 🇳🇱 is a distance running machine! #OlympicGames #Paris2024 #athletics pic.twitter.com/p17fREU4XQ
36 hours after the 10,000m wrapped up across town at the Stade de France, Hassan was on the starting line, becoming the first woman to attempt all three - and admitted she was scared to try it.
She battled with Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia and managed to shake her off in the last stretch, crossing the finish line in an Olympic record time of two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds.
All told, the two-time marathon major winner raced a total of 62.2 kilometres (38.65 miles) in Paris.
“When I finished, the whole moment was a release. It is unbelievable. I have never experienced anything like that. Even the other marathons I have run were not close to this,” she told reporters.
“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?’.”
Hassan’s outstanding grit has won over not only fans, but her rivals, too.
“She’s just awesome. Who can do that? Who can come from track and win the marathon?,” said Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, who finished fourth.
“I feel like I just want to be her.”
‘Spirit of the Olympics’
Bhutan’s Kinzang Lhamo finished the hilly and hot course in three hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds, encouraged over the last kilometres by spectators cycling and running alongside her.
As she hit the home straight, fans in the stands in front of the Invalides monument got to their feet to cheer her on as she crossed the finish line, the 80th woman to complete the course.
Taking from Tanzanian 1968 Marathon runner John Stephen Akwari 🇹🇿 notebook, "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me to finish the race." Bhutan runner completes after almost 4 Hours. Kinzang Lhamo 🇧🇹 #paris2024 #olympics2024 #Tanzania #bhutan pic.twitter.com/J79I8fRveA
— Mshamma Jr (@MshammaJr) August 11, 2024
Lhamo, 26, was participating in her first international competition, and was the Himalayan nation’s flagbearer in the opening ceremony.
An ultramarathon specialist, Lhamo came second in 2022 in the Snowman Race, an extreme event covering 203 kilometres through the Himalayan mountains. She took up running after joining Bhutan’s army.
The Olympics was initially conceived as a competition open to all sporting amateurs, though the reality has long since moved on with most participants now professional athletes.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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