Two-time Olympic champion Sifan Hassan makes a switch from the track to the road. At the end of April she will make her longest-distance debut in athletics at the London Marathon. She will compete there against, among others, the world record holder Brigid Kosgei from Kenya and her compatriot Peres Jepchirchir, the Olympic champion from Tokyo over 42,195 meters.
The strong field of participants – according to the organization the strongest line-up ever – was a reason for thirty-year-old Hassan to choose London and not, for example, the Rotterdam marathon, which is scheduled a week earlier. She said this in a digital press conference on Wednesday afternoon. “I want to measure myself with the best and London has a stronger field than Rotterdam. It’s always an exciting game. You sit down to watch, because you never know who is going to win.”
However, Hassan tempered expectations for her debut. She said she especially wanted to feel what it’s like to run a marathon – she never ran more than 37 kilometers in training. The match in the British capital will therefore be a test. “When I started running the 10,000 meters, I didn’t know what I would think either. I really liked that. Now I am curious how this will be.” Hassan wouldn’t say what time she’s aiming for, though she smiled when a time of 2 hours and 30 minutes was called – way too slow, she seemed to think.
Run and go
Two years ago, Hassan wrote history in Tokyo by winning a medal in three distances that were considered incompatible until then – the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. She won Olympic gold in the two longest distances and took bronze in the mile. Now she wants to combine the marathon with her track program, another special challenge. “I am curious if it is possible. It’s very hard to combine, it’s like I have to be two versions of myself. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
In addition to the London Marathon, Hassan will also run a number of Diamond League competitions and will compete at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest this year. If she likes the track-road combination, she wants to do it more often, perhaps at the Paris Summer Games next year.
After the Tokyo Games in 2021, Hassan did not run any competitions for a long time and last year at the World Cup in Eugene she missed the medals. But now Hassan is fit and feeling good. She has been training in Ethiopia again since November. “It is a challenge that motivates me. At the Tokyo Games I wanted to finish three distances, that was my dream and I wanted to work hard for it. Now I have the same with the marathon. That’s good for me, it gives me pleasure.”