By Rich Sands, @sands )c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved; used with permission
(11-Aug): The athletics program at the 2024 Olympics concluded in spectacular fashion on Sunday, with Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands winning the women’s marathon in a sprint finish to take her third medal at the Paris Games. World record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia crossed the line three seconds behind, and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri completed the podium. Hassan became the only woman in history to win medals in the 5000m (bronze), 10,000m (bronze) and marathon (gold) in the same Olympic Games.
As with the men’s race on Saturday, the women were cautious in the early going, acutely aware that several brutal hills awaited them mid-race, as well as a temperature that would be steadily rising from the 66F/19C at the start. There was no cloud cover and the course has little shade.
The field of 91 athletes set off from HĂ´tel de Ville (the Paris city hall), but the first casualty would come quickly. U.S. Olympic Trials champion Fiona O’Keeffe, who was running awkwardly from the start, dropped out before the 5-K mark. She would be among 11 athletes who did not finish the race.
A crowded lead pack went through 5-K in 17:24, and then picked up the pace slightly to hit 10-K in 34:32. By 15-K (51:12) there were 14 women up front, including defending Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, Assefa (who set the world record of 2:11:23 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon), Obiri (a two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5000 meters and a world champion in indoor and outdoor track and cross country) and France’s Melody Julien, who remained at or near the lead through most of the first half.
The initial hilly portion of the course, which began at 15-K, slowed the pace significantly, allowing several women to catch up to the leaders, including Dakotah Lindwurm of the U.S. and Japan’s Yuka Suzuki. Suzuki, 24, the Japanese Olympic trials winner last October, hoped to break Japan’s 20 medal drought in the Olympic Marathon.
By halfway (1:13:22) there were 20 women in contact, and moments later Lindwurm made a bold move to the front, leading the race at the turnaround point at Versailles.
“I looked up and said, ‘God, you’re crazy.’ I can’t believe he put me in that position,” Lindwurm told NBC Sports’ sideline reporter Steve Porino just after the race. “I’ve got so many people back in Minnesota watching me, that I could almost feel Minnesota watching me. It was an honor to be around those women.”
The decisive racing took shape during the relentless 600-meter stretch of hills after 28-K, which rose at a 10.5% grade. Assefa, fellow Ethiopian Amane Beriso Shankule, Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi, Jepchirchir and Suzuki separated from the field. Obiri briefly fell back but soon regained contact.
After cresting the hill at 30-K (1:43:59), nine women were back in contention on a harrowing downhill section, including Hassan, Suzuki, Bahrain’s Eunice Chumba and Romania’s Delvine Meringor. The pace quickened and by 35-K (1:59:43) the leaders had recorded their fastest 5-K split of the day (15:44). Soon Chumba, Meringor and Jepchirchir started to lose contact, followed by Suzuki (the Japanese medal drought would continue).
Approaching the Eiffel Tower in the 39th kilometer five contenders remained –Assefa, Beriso Shankule, Obiri, Lokedi and Hassan– who strategically remained at the back of the group at all times.
Those five were still together at 40-K (2:16:09), but a kilometer later Beriso Shankule fell behind, followed by Lokedi. Assefa and Obiri ran stride for stride, with Hassan right on their heels. Finally, with less than 400 meters to go, Assefa sprinted to the front. Hassan quickly responded, but Obiri (who said she missed two water stations earlier in the race and even stopped briefly to throw up) could not match the increased tempo.
As Assefa and Hassan rounded the final curve heading onto the bright blue carpet at the Esplanade des Invalides, they briefly tangled. (Though the contact seemed incidental, the Ethiopian federation filed a request to have Hassan disqualified; it was rejected by the jury of appeal.) Hassan maintained her poise, surged ahead, but continued to look back even as it was clear Assefa could not match her kick.
“At the end I thought, ‘This is just a 100m sprint. Come on, Sifan. One more,'” she said.
The indefatigable Dutchwoman hit the tape in 2:22:55, breaking the Olympic record set by Ethiopia’s Tiki Gelana 12 years ago in London (2:23:07). Assefa finished in 2:22:58 for the silver medal, while Obiri (2:23:10) took the bronze, just ahead of Lokedi (2:23:14). Beriso Shankule (2:23:57), Suzuki (2:24:02) and Meringor (2:24:56) followed, while Jepchirchir (2:26:51) faded to 15th.
Lindwurm (2:26:44) was the top American, in 12th place, while countrywoman Emily Sisson (2:29:53) finished 23rd. “I’m happy to be here for sure,” Lindwurm told Race Results Weekly. “It was super-fun. I was trying to black out as much as possible, do as little thinking as possible. But I was also trying to soak in some moments. It was so cool, the entire way I feel like I was hearing, ‘USA, USA.'”
This was the sixth Olympic medal of Hassan’s career. Three years ago in Tokyo she won gold in the 5000 and 10,000 meters, along with a bronze in the 1500. She tackled an even more ambitious schedule in Paris, covering more than 62 kilometers/38 miles over 10 days, taking bronzes in both the 5000 on August 5 and the 10,000 on August 9, a day and a half before the marathon.
“Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5000 and 10,000,” the 31-year-old Hassan admitted. “I was telling myself if I hadn’t done that, I would feel great today. From the beginning to the end, it was so hard.”
She said that she didn’t feel comfortable until after the 20-K mark.
“Then I knew I wanted gold,” she said. “But everybody else was fresh and all I was thinking was, ‘When are they going to break? They’re going to go hard, they’re going to go hard.'”
Hassan has established herself as the most versatile runner of her generation, with personal bests ranging from 1:56.81 in the 800 meters to 2:13:44 in the marathon, her winning time in Chicago last fall. She has held world records in the mile and 10,000 meters and won a world title in the 1500. Still, this was a humbling moment.
“I have so many emotions,” she said. “Every step I challenged myself, and now I am so grateful I didn’t push myself too much on the track. I was scared of this race. I am Olympic champion. What can I say?”
