LONDON, ENGLAND, April 23 — In a matter of 20 minutes, Sifan Hassan’s prospects for a debut win at the London Marathon swung from the implausible to the inevitable. The Dutch track superstar closed a 14-second gap between 35 and 37K, then ran with the lead quartet until the finish line was in sight before unleashing her gold medal sprint.
Hassan’s improbable victory came after repeatedly stopping midrace to stretch a bothersome quad, and ended as she stopped the clock in 2:18:33.
“Yes, I finished the marathon and I am the winner,” Hassan proclaimed. “I feel amazing, I feel that a dream has come true, my gratitude has no limit. I have great respect for the marathon. This is the hardest challenge.”
Ethiopian Alemu Megertu finished 2nd in 2:18:37, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir followed in 2:18:38. Shelia Chepkurui (4th in 2:18:51) and Yalemzerf Yehualaw (5th in 2:18:53) also bettered 2:19 running amid cool 50-degree temperatures and off-and-on light rain.
This was largely a race of attrition as Jepchirchir seemed intent on pressing a hard pace to secure her sixth straight marathon win and bettering Mary Keitany’s women’s only WR of 2:17:01. For much of the race, Hassan was a subplot as she lagged behind the lead group attending to a gimpy leg.
Hassan had dinged her left quad hammering out a 20K hard surface road test two weeks out. This was just one of a series of hiccups in her preparations complicated by fasting during Ramadan that lasted through Thursday evening before Sunday’s race.
While Hassan was able to make it to the starting line, British sensation Eilish McColgan pulled out two days before the race with a knee injury, and World Record holder Brigid Kosgei appeared even worse off as she ran painfully slowly through the first kilometer before waving goodbye.
An all-women pacing crew led a pack of 10 competitors through opening 5K segments of 16:13, 16:24 and 16:06 to cross 15K in 48:43 — spot on Keitany’s record pace.
Hassan was already in trouble, running at the back of the pack and looking rather uncomfortable, both in her stride and managing the water stations.
“I had no practice,” Hassan confessed, “and I had problems drinking. I was choking on it but luckily I had no stomach problems.”
Her real issue was with her leg that hurt early on: “I was thinking how…
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