Double Olympic gold medalist Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. Hassan won gold at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. She also placed third in the 1500-meter race. She made Olympic history by becoming the first athlete to win medals in the 1500, 5000, and 10,000 metres events all at once. She became the first Dutch woman to win an Olympic long-distance athletics medal with her gold medal win.
Hassan was born in Ethiopia and moved to the Netherlands when she was two years old. She made her senior international debut for the Netherlands in 2011. In 2012, Hassan won the European U23 Championships 1500 metres title. She made her first senior appearance at a major championships later that year, finishing ninth in the 1500 metres at the 2012 Olympic Games. Hassan won her first senior global medal at the 2013 World Championships, taking bronze in the 1500 metres. She followed this up with silver medals in the same event at the 2014 European Championships and 2015 World Championships.
Hassan became a world champion in 2019, winning the 1500 metres at the World Championships in Doha with a time of 3:51.95. This was also a new championship record. In a pace of 29:36.67 on October 10, Hassan broke the previous record for the women’s 10,000 metres established by Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain in 2002 by more than 24 seconds. She improved upon her performance at the competition to achieve a run of 29m 06.82s in Hengelo on June 6, 2021.
