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Sifan Hassan will return to the London Marathon and the Olympic champion has her eyes set on the world record down the line too.
The Dutch runner, who leads the women’s elite field at this year’s major on Sunday, 27 April, returns to the scene of her debut over the iconic distance, where she was forced to stop briefly with an injury before rallying to claim a thrilling victory in 2023.
And the 32-year-old produced a sizzling kick to triumph in Paris last summer in an Olympic record of two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds, completing a remarkable treble after bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m.
The women’s marathon has moved to a new level since though after Ruth Chepngetich became the first woman to break 2:10 with her breathtaking run on Chicago’s fast course last October.
But Hassan maintains her rival gives her belief she too can break the barrier with a world record next in her lofty list of goals.
“Her result is unbelievable, I didn’t process it very well,” Hassan said. “My brain didn’t really take it in immediately, because it just it looked like a number or something. But when I go back now, think about after that. It is amazing, unbelievable. And no one thought a female would run that time.
“Sometimes, if an athlete is closer to 2:11 or something like that, you suspect the athlete [can achieve that]. So I didn’t think that day. It didn’t come to my head that she was going to run that time.
“I’m really happy that she did it. I don’t care how they do but it just shows me it is possible. To me, it doesn’t matter how Ruth did it, but to me, it is possible. It’s a matter of time. So if I train it correctly, maybe it takes me longer to train, maybe two years to be there. But now it is possible, it is a matter of time. It just takes longer to train.”
“London, for me, many people say no, but I think it’s possible. But London is only female alone. It is easy when you run behind somebody, but if in London they do a mixex race, I can see myself in two years or with very hard training running my personal best or the world record. So I think it’s possible, fantastic. Paula [Radcliffe] ran 2:15 back then, and now if she ran it, I think she would smash everybody else.”
Hassan, who has now completed a rare treble at two Olympic Games after Tokyo and Paris, and is determined to reach new ground and even suggested a long-term goal to complete four marathons in a calendar year when it was suggested she is already the greatest female runner of all time.
“I don’t think I’m the greatest because, if I think that, I’m not going to improve,” Hassan said. “I want to try and run four marathons in one year and see how far I can go. Maybe closer to LA 2028, I want to see how I can handle [that].
“I want to run personal bests on the track too. I have so many things in my head, I’m really crazy. Many athletes are good at one thing but they don’t want to go out of their comfort zone. Nobody is perfect, I just want to try everything and see where I can go.”
Hassan will be joined by her fellow Paris gold medalist Tamirat Tola, who will attempt to win the London Marathon in his fifth attempt.
After finishing third in the men’s race two years ago, Tola was a late call-up for Paris after Ethiopia teammate Sisay Lemma pulled out injured. And the 33-year-old capitalised superbly to become Olympic champion in dominant fashion, setting a new Games record of two hours six minutes and 26 seconds.
Swiss Paralympian Hug leads the men’s wheelchair race and has his sights set on a seventh London Marathon victory and fifth successive title.
While Catherine Debrunner is looking to defend her title in the women’s wheelchair race after five gold medals at last summer’s Paralympic Games, completing a famous quartet of reigning Olympic and Paralympic marathon champions in London this year.
