Sifan Hassan has completed her three-part mission at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a silver medal.
The 30-year-old top athlete only had to tolerate the Kenyan Faith Kipyegon in the 5000 meters, who won in 14.53.88. Hassan clocked 14:54.11.
It is her second medal at the World Cup and the fourth for the Dutch team. Hassan previously won bronze in the 1500 meters, Femke Bol took gold in the 400 meters hurdles and Anouk Vetter won bronze in the heptathlon.
Maureen Koster, the second Dutch in the final, finished twelfth in 15:00.78.
Hassan looks back on an eventful World Cup. On the opening day, she looked set to take gold in the 10,000m, but with Gudaf Tsegay advancing dangerously on the way, she misstepped and went sprawling just meters from the finish. The bizarre fall cost her a medal.
A day later she was just at the start of the semi-finals of the 1500 meters. She ran into the final with scratches and bruises on her wiry body. She managed to take the bronze medal in it.
Hassan thus completed the same trilogy as at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, when she became the first athlete ever to run the 1500, 5000 and 10,000 meters. It brought her unprecedented success with two gold medals and a bronze.
Hassan ran a watched final, in which she calmly walked along in the field. Koster also hid in the group, which remained compact until the last round. Then Hassan settled into second position behind Kipyegon, hoping to sprint past her on the final stretch to the finish. But Kipyegon, a three-time world champion in the 1500 meters and holder of the world record in the 5000 meters, was too fast.