We were screaming with joy as we watched Sifan Hassan cross the finish line in this year’s TCS London Marathon. If you somehow missed this story when it happened, sit back and read about history in the making
In the 43rd edition of this iconic race, we watched open-mouthed as Hassan, reigning Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion, drifted off the leading pack not far into the race. She stopped to stretch several times when troubled with a hip issue, ran past a feed station then doubled back to grab her drink, somehow latched back on to the lead pack at the 40K mark, and then quickly sprinted for the line!
It was a momentous performance, if a little unorthodox for a debut over this distance. But despite all of her issues, Hassan sprinted to the front of the field along the Mall and crossed the line first with a time of 2:18:33. She didn’t even look like she’d run a marathon as she gracefully ran past her competitors at end. We can’t help but think it bodes well for more exciting races to come at this distance from the Dutch athlete.
The day was made even more special when British runner Sam Harrison finished first out of the British field, clocking a six-minute personal best to finish 11th overall in 2:25:59. An amazing performance!
The women’s wheelchair race was just as exciting, with four athletes working together throughout the race until the last few metres when Australia’s Madison de Rozario, reigning Paralympic champion, finished first with a time of 01:38:51. De Rozario (pictured below left) said: “To come to the finish, with those three women, who are some of the best ath
