Sifan Hassan became the athletic queen of the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year with three medals, but it is impossible that she will be so successful again in the next week and a half at the World Championships in Eugene, USA. The 29-year-old Dutch does not even know at which two distances she will start at the moment.
“I will make a decision on Wednesday, but I already know that I will not run three distances again,” Hassan said Monday from the United States at an online press moment. “In Tokyo I was good on three distances, so I know that I can achieve something beautiful on all three distances. Only I am not as good this year as in 2021.”
In Tokyo, Dutch athletics history wrote two golds (5,000 and 10,000 meters) and one bronze (1,500 meters). It has been an incredibly tough and busy schedule for Hassan, which is not even possible at the World Championships in Eugene.
The 10,000 meters is scheduled at the World Cup on the same day as the 1,500 meters series, so Hassan will have to choose between those two distances. She is sure to run the 5000m.
Sifan Hassan in Tokyo with the gold of the 10,000 meters.
Sifan Hassan in Tokyo with the gold of the 10,000 meters. Photo: Getty Images
‘The motivation was gone’
Due to her Olympic titles and because she became world champion in Doha three years ago in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, a lot is again expected from Hassan in Eugene, but the athlete is tempering expectations. She is careful after a tough year physically and mentally.
“I found it difficult to pick up my sport again,” says Hassan, who only ran her first game of the season in Portland last week. “The Games were a highlight, but it made it difficult for me to set new goals.”
Hassan took a long vacation, during which she did not train. “The motivation was gone. I didn’t do anything for two or three months. That was good, because at some point I missed running again. I felt like training again.”
At the World Championships in Doha in 2019, Sifan Hassan took gold twice.
At the World Championships in Doha in 2019, Sifan Hassan took gold twice. Photo: Getty Images
‘Skipped the year without the World Cup’
Still, the past few months did not go the way Hassan wanted. She even thought about not running any competitions for the whole of 2022.
“If there hadn’t been a World Cup, I think I would have done that too. No, it wouldn’t have been bad to take a year off mentally and physically. It didn’t matter to me, because I have those Olympic medals. Then I started preparing for the World Cup about ten weeks ago, I also felt how deep I went for Tokyo.”
Hassan had pain in her legs and an infection in her lungs. “Until three weeks ago it just didn’t go well. I was in a panic. What was this supposed to be for the World Cup? But suddenly it went better and now I feel good and happy, although that does not mean that I will win medals.”
Maybe Hassan is even satisfied just a medal in Eugene. “I know where I come from. And I now know that hard training pays off. I have trained less hard now than in previous years and if it turns out that it was enough for gold, then so be it. And maybe it won’t be bronze or silver. I don’t really know where I stand compared to my competitors. Maybe they have trained much harder than me and are better.”
The World Cup in Eugene starts Friday and lasts until Sunday 24 July.