The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan won gold in the women’s marathon with a sprint finish, securing her third medal of the Paris Olympics.
The 31-year-old accelerated in the final 200 meters, crossing the line in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 55 seconds, just three seconds ahead of Ethiopian Tigst Assefa.
Hassan’s victory came only two days after winning bronze in the 10,000m and six days after securing bronze in the 5,000m.
“I have no words. Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5,000m and 10,000m. I was telling myself if I hadn’t done that, I would feel great today,” said Hassan.
“The moment I started to feel good was at 20km, I felt so good. Then I knew I wanted gold.”
Kenya’s Hellen Obiri finished third, 12 seconds behind Assefa.
Britain’s Clara Evans was 46th in 2:33:01 and Rose Harvey 78th in 2:51:03, while Calli Hauger-Thackery did not finish.
With temperatures touching 24C despite an 08:00 race start, several athletes used ice packs during the race and others carried bottles of water for long periods.
Hassan won 5,000m and 10,000m gold and 1500m bronze at Tokyo 2020.
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