Sifan Hassan – Born: 1 January 1993. Coach: Tim Rowberry. Born in Adama, Ethiopia, in 1993, Hassan left her homeland as a refugee in 2008, arriving in the Netherlands at age 15.
Sifan Hassan Information
She began running soon thereafter and less than a decade later had produced a record of extraordinary range that would rank her among the finest middle and long distance runners of all-time.
Her rise into the global ranks began in December 2013 with her European U23 cross country title, one month after gaining Dutch citizenship. Her appearances on continental and global podiums haven’t stopped since.
The following July she signalled herself as a rising 1500m force, clocking 3:57.00 to win the Paris leg of the Diamond League. Her big stage breakthrough came a month later at the 2014 European Championships in Zurich where she took gold in the 1500m and silver in the 5000m.
In 2015, she took the European indoor 1500m title and bronze over the distance at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Her first global title came at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland where she raced to victory in the 1500m. Hassan finished fifth in the Olympic 1500m final in Rio, and fifth again at the World Championships in London.
In 2018 she improved her proficiency over longer distances, clocking 14:22.34 to break the European 5000m record in Rabat in July and 1:05:15 for the half marathon in Copenhagen in September, another area record. That came just a month after she took the European 5000m title and eight days after she sped to an 8:27.50 3000m victory at the Continental Cup in Ostrava, the fastest time in the world that season.
Her momentum continued in 2019. In her first race of the year, she set a world record for 5km on the road, clocking 14:44 in Monaco. She then broke the European 3000m record at the Prefontaine Classic in June, clocking 8:18.48, the fastest time in the world since 1993. Twelve days later, she improved her own national 1500m record in Rabat, clocking 3:55.93 – a mark which she lowered to 3:55.30 en route to a 4:12.33 mile to break a world record which had stood for 23 years. And later that month she ran 14:22.12 for a European 5000m record in London.
The best that year was yet to come, however, and in Doha she became the first to achieve a world 1500m and 10,000m double, claiming her 10,000m win on 28 September and her 1500m victory, in a European record of 3:51.95, seven days later.
In 2020, despite limited racing opportunities, Hassan set a world record in the one-hour event, covering 18,930km in Brussels on 4 September, and the following month she ran 29:36.67 in the rain in Hengelo to break Paula Radcliffe’s 18-year-old European 10,000m record. Back on the same track eight months later, Hassan revised her best for 25 laps to 29:06.82, smashing Almaz Ayana’s world record from the 2016 Olympics in Rio by more than 10 seconds.
Sifan Hassan’s personal bests
800m: 1:56.81 (2017)
1000m: 2:34.68 (2015)
1500m: 3:51.95 (2019) European record
Mile: 4:12.33 (2019) world record
3000m: 8:18.49 (2019) European record
5000m: 14:22.12 (2019) European record
10,000m: 29:06.82 (2021) world record*
One hour: 18,930km (2020) world record
5km: 14:44 (2019) women-only world record
Half marathon: 1:05:15 (2018) European record
* awaiting ratification but record broken 2 days later by Letesenbet Gidey 29:01.03**
** awaiting ratification
article by World Athletics
Speak Your Mind