Double Olympic gold medallist in the 5,000 and 10,000m races Sifan Hassan is contemplating to switching to marathon soon.
The 29 year-old said on Tuesday that he will be steeping up to marathon and might appear at the 2024 Paris Marathon.
“I’m really planning to run marathon,” said the 5km world record holder. “I don’t know when, but I’m thinking about it, I’m thinking about it every night and every day, whenever I run.”
When asked whether she might have a tilt at the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics, she replied with a laugh: “Why not?”
The Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner also won bronze in the 1,500 in Tokyo in a remarkable bid for three titles.
the 2016 World Indoor 1500m champion, fell painstakingly short of an audacious golden treble in Tokyo 2020 but made history by becoming the first person to win three medals over 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m.
“In Tokyo I did amazing, but it affected me a lot. This year for me is like a break of a year,” Hassan said ahead of Wednesday’s 5,000-meter race, part of the Diamond League finals in Zurich.
“I have to have a very big goal and very big challenge to go forward,” she added, describing herself as “curious” to see if she can push her limits for challenges as much mental as physical.
“I’ve lost a couple of races, which gave me a boost,” she said of this season. “I’m in great shape, I’m peaking now.”
The two time world champion in 1500m and 10,000m perform dismally at the world championships in Oregon, as she finish sixth in the 5,000 and fourth in the 10,000.
The Dutch star record-breaking started started way back in 2019 when she set the women’s-only 5km World Record of 14:44 in Monaco before lowering the mile world record of 4:12.33 at a Diamond League meeting in the same country.
The following year Hassan set a new one-hour world record at the Brussels Diamond League meeting with a final distance of 18.930km, over a lap further than the previous record of 18.517km that had been set Dire Tune in 2008.
During the Tokyo Olympic games she went on to attack the 10,000m record of 29:17.45 that had been set by Almaz Ayana from Ethiopia at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She further lowered the mark Hengelo, Netherlands slashing off 10.63 seconds from the previous mark of 29:06.82.
Hassan’s 10,000m World record lasted only for two days as it was lowered down by Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist, Letesenbet Gidey from Ethiopia with a new world record time of 29:01.03 at the same venue in 2021.
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