With a blistering last lap in 57.36 seconds, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won the women’s 5,000 metres in 14:36.79, taking gold in the first of the three events she is running at the 2021 Olympic Games.
Hellen Obiri of Kenya, who was the silver medalist at the 2016 Games in Rio, was second again, in 14:38.36. Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia won bronze in 14:38.87.
Hassan, 28, is bidding for an unprecedented triple in Tokyo—she is entered in the 1500 meters, the 5,000 metres, and the 10,000 metres.
It was her second race in 12 hours. Hassan ran the first round of the 1500 metres in the morning and took a fall in the final lap of that race. She got up, sprinted to the lead over the final 300 metres, and won her heat in 4:05.17.
'I was so tired, when I fall down, I wake up and I run and felt like someone who had drunk 20 cups of coffee,' she said of her morning fall. 'I couldn’t calm myself down, the whole day I was shaking, thinking, too much shock, adrenaline. In the evening I was so tired. I just said, "I want to finish, no way gold. Just finish the race."'
After the fall, Hassan said didn’t think she had a chance to medal. 'I said I’d finish the race and do what I can,' she said. 'I’m not the best; I’m really lucky.'
Any exhaustion from the earlier effort didn’t show, and the other competitors did nothing to take the kick out of her. For the first half of the race, most of the field was able to stay together in kilometres averaging roughly 3 minutes. Hassan stayed in the middle of a large group, in 10th place for the first 3,000 metres, before moving up to seventh.
With three laps to go, the pace quickened significantly, and seven women gapped the rest of the field. With two laps remaining, Hassan was in third. The pack split 68.05 for the penultimate lap.
It was too easy for Hassan, who took the lead on the back stretch of the last lap. Obiri, 31, tried to stay with her around the final curve, but she couldn’t match Hassan’s top speed.
Hassan won an impressive double gold at the world championships in Doha, winning the 1500 and the 10,000 metres. This was her first Olympic title.
She’ll have 24,500 total metres of racing, six races over nine days, assuming she makes the final in the 1500 metres. She races again in two days in the semifinal of the 1500 metres.
She said the idea for the triple came after she finished second in a 1500-metre race to Faith Kipyegon last month. 'Losing makes me crazy,' she said after today’s victory.
She acknowledged that many people are questioning her decision to take on the triple at the Games. 'Many people think I’m crazy. I also think I’m crazy,' she said. 'Life is not only about the gold and the winning and the fame. It’s also about following your heart.'
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