LONDON: Sifan Hassan staged a remarkable rally to win the women’s London Marathon on Sunday in what was the double Olympic track champion’s debut race over the distance.
The 5,000 and 10,000 metres Olympic gold medallist from the 2020 Tokyo Games had been in the leading group but was dropped and holding her side after the hour mark.
It would have been impressive enough had the Ethiopian-born Dutch runner just completed the course on the rainswept streets of the British capital, with Hassan then grabbing her hip and stopping to stretch off the injury.
Hassan, however, recovered to rejoin the leaders with three miles to go.
Despite making a mess of collecting a drink from a water station, the 30-year-old recovered and even offered rival Yalemzerf Yehualaw, last year’s winner, a swig from her bottle.
Hassan then burst clear of Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir in a sprint finish to win in a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds.
It was the first time Jepchirchir had been defeated in a major marathon race.
The 5,000 and 10,000 metres Olympic gold medallist from the 2020 Tokyo Games had been in the leading group but was dropped and holding her side after the hour mark.
It would have been impressive enough had the Ethiopian-born Dutch runner just completed the course on the rainswept streets of the British capital, with Hassan then grabbing her hip and stopping to stretch off the injury.
Hassan, however, recovered to rejoin the leaders with three miles to go.
Despite making a mess of collecting a drink from a water station, the 30-year-old recovered and even offered rival Yalemzerf Yehualaw, last year’s winner, a swig from her bottle.
Hassan then burst clear of Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir in a sprint finish to win in a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds.
It was the first time Jepchirchir had been defeated in a major marathon race.
