Hassan stopped to stretch several times – fought back with an incredible victory in his marathon debut – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule

The Dutch 30-year-old made a big impression when she won Olympic gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Tokyo in 2021, but she had never run a full marathon before when she lined the starting line in the prestigious London marathon on Sunday morning. But after about half the distance, just over 20 kilometres, things started to look dark for Sifan Hassan. She stopped completely to stretch her front thigh several times, then her hip, and lost close to half a minute to the close group. – She looks confused. This is not a small feeling she knows how to deal with, this is something new and she doesn’t know what to do to improve it, said former world record holder Paula Radcliffe on the BBC’s update. – It is a scary sign for Hassan. She sticks to the side and grimaces. This isn’t just normal marathon pain, it’s too early for that, running legend Steve Cram followed up. READY TO START: There was a strong women’s field at the London marathon. Photo: PETER CZIBORRA / Reuters But Hassan did not give up and slowly but surely gained seconds, and with around 15 minutes left in the race, she made a small change and was one up with the close group. – She is the ultimate runner, said Radcliffe. However, the chance of victory again looked like it might slip away when she missed the last drink post, and had to turn and run back. Still, with the bottle in her hand, she kept up the pace. On the run, she put in a sprint and clearly beat Peres Jepchirchir from Kenya and Alemu Megertu from Ethiopia. The time was 2.18.33. – It is absolutely fantastic. Sifan Hassan has done something that no one could have expected. She struggled, holding her hip and stopping to stretch. She must have dreamed of just finishing it and can’t believe it. This could actually be the biggest success of her career, believes BBC expert Cram. World record holder Brigid Kosgei was also on the starting line, but she gave up after just three minutes with an injury. In the men’s class, there was most talk of Mo Farah, who ends a long career on home soil. As expected, he was never quite involved in the close fight. Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum won with a time of 2:01.25.



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