Sifan Hassan shows her class again, wins 10000m gold
Netherlands' Sifan Hassan (left) reacts as she crosses the finish line to win the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
What you need to know:
- The Dutchwoman clocked 29:55.33 to win ahead of Kalkidan Gezahegne of the Bahrain while world record holder, Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey, took bronze after leading for the better part of the race.
- Kenya's Hellen Obiri, silver medallist behind Hassan in the 5,000m here in Tokyo, finished fourth.
Sifan Hassan is the 10,000 metres Olympic gold medallist.
The Dutchwoman clocked 29:55.33 to win ahead of Kalkidan Gezahegne of the Bahrain while world record holder, Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey, took bronze after leading for the better part of the race.
Interestingly, the three were all born in Ethiopia before Hassan and Gezahegne changed nationality and started competing for their adopted countries.
Netherlands' Sifan Hassan celebrates with her national flag after winning the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
Kenya's Hellen Obiri, silver medallist behind Hassan in the 5,000m here in Tokyo, finished fourth ina personal best of 30:24.27.
Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba, who was disqualified in the 5,000m, finished fifth in a national record of 30:41.93.
Niyonsaba, also a two-time world indoor 800m champion, had changed events after falling foul of World Athletics' rules regarding women born with elevated testosterone, meaning she was barred from events from 400m to the mile.
The win capped Hassan's audacious bid for an Olympic treble, giving her the second gold, and third medal, of the Tokyo Games.
Netherlands' Sifan Hassan celebrates after winning the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner kicked off her non-stop week of track action with victory in the 5,000m on Monday.
There followed a bronze in Friday's 1500m, before she dusted down her spikes just 24 hours later for a tilt at the longest of her chosen disciplines in the same testing hot and humid conditions that have beset the Olympics.
With heats and semi-finals as well, it meant Hassan was in action on five days of the nine-day schedule of track and field, including competing in a 1500m heat on the same day as the 5,000m final.
Netherlands' Sifan Hassan (left) reacts as she crosses the finish line to win the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
In the 10,000m Hassan clocked 29min 55.32sec for gold, with Bahrain's Kalkidan Gezahegne, also born in Ethiopia, claiming silver in 29:56.18.
Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, after leading for all but two kilometres of the 25-lap race, claimed bronze in 30:01.72.
From left: Netherlands' Sifan Hassan, Kenya's Hellen Obiri and Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey compete in the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
Gidey was comfortable in second behind early pace setter Ririka Hironaka of Japan, with Hassan close behind.
The Ethiopian world record holder over both 5,000 and 10,000m potentially lost an ally as teammate Tsigie Gebreseslama pulled up injured after just two laps.
But that proved to be false as, with 18 laps to run, Gidey moved to the front, followed by the phalanx of Kenyans as the lead pack was cut to 12.
From left: Ethiopia's Letesenbet Gidey, Kenya's Hellen Obiri, Netherlands' Sifan Hassan, Bahrain's Kalkidan Gezahegne and Kenya's Irene Cheptai compete in the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
Four laps further on and Gidey upped the pace and soon only Kenya's 5,000m silver medallist Hellen Obiri and Irine Cheptai, Hassan and Gezahegne could cope with the Ethiopian's unrelenting rhythm.
Moving into the final 10 laps, Cheptai had been dropped, leaving a clear four-way battle.
Obiri started to struggle and then it was down to three, Gidey looking powerful and in complete control, eyes occasionally flicking up to the stadium's big screen.
At the bell that signalled the last lap, Gidey kicked, Hassan and Gezahegne quickly bunching in readiness for a counter-attack.
Athletes, including Uganda's Mercyline Chelangat, Japan's Ririka Hironaka and Britain's Eilish McColgan, compete in the women's 10,000m final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on August 7, 2021.
Shoulder to shoulder, Hassan swept past Gidey at the 150-metre mark.
Unlike the 1500m, when she was left flat-footed in the home stretch, Hassan ensured she made no mistake, producing a dazzling sprint away from the Bahraini, arms raised in glory as she crossed the line to claim her second gold of a remarkable Games.
