“Before the start I cried with fear!”

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Sifan Hassan (30) Winning the London Marathon borders on a miracle. The Dutch, who normally runs a maximum distance of 10,000 meters, participated in a marathon for the first time in her life on Sunday. Just because she felt like it. And even though all the odds were against her.

The three-time Olympic medalist had to stop training for the track season in January because of food poisoning. The native Ethiopian has been observing the rules of Ramadan for a month now. That means: From sunrise to sunset there is no food or drink. To top it off, Hassan injured his thigh 10 days before London.

“Why did I just register?”

All of this literally called for a retreat. But Hassan thinks otherwise. Her biggest concern for the 26-mile run wasn’t her battered body. It was that she didn’t know how to grab a cup at full speed and drink while running. Because during Ramadan she couldn’t practice it.

The morning before the London Marathon, the world champion in the 1,500 and 10,000 meters was so nervous that, in her typical chaotic manner, she forgot to tape her injured upper leg. “I was really scared before the start, crying and vomiting. I kept asking myself, why the hell did you sign up for a marathon?!”

Sprint after 42 kilometers

The run itself actually becomes an ordeal for Hassan. Before kilometer 20, she stops twice to stretch her aching thigh. She has to let the leading group go. Any other athlete would have used their common sense at this point and given up.

But Sifan Hassan is not every other athlete. The Dutch picks up the pace and catches up to the top again. She almost misses the last water station because she is nearly hit by an auxiliary motorcycle. In the last 200 meters than the masterpiece. As if she hadn’t just run 42 kilometers, she pulls away in a sprint and crosses the finish line of the London Marathon first after 2:18:37. Sifan Hassan has redefined the word impossible.

Source : Blick