SIFAN MF HASSAN - WINS OLY MARATHON GOLD

Yep. One Epopian outkicks another.

It really is ridiculous to have the course zig zag like that several times in the last 800. The win basically came down to who came off that crash better.

Why wouldn't you hug the rail for both corners? It's a race, you want to force someone to go around wide if they are going to get by you, unless they are clearly at the corner first.

The right to left corners on which the incident took place were not tight, it was a shallow chicane. You can run along the rail on the first bend and proceed to the rail of the next in a straight line. If anything halfway between the two she veered a bit off the straight path (the blue line) to her right side, and then slightly back as Hassan appeared but that doesn't mean the pass was complete, Hassan was simply alongside her in a situation where the
course was closing on her.

I never said she wasn't running faster, also not denying she wouldn't be able to finish the in 1st if she didn't pass at that spot... but just because you are moving faster doesn't negate the need to recognize where their is room and where it's risky.

Until 40 years ago organizers argued women were "too frail" to run a marathon. All Hassan did was bang out an OR 2:23 on a hilly course following bronze in 5k and 10k. Throwing elbows and shoving down the stretch. Beating another "frail woman" who stopped to puke and took third.

Yeah I guess women are too soft for sports :)

Siffan is an amazingly talented athlete and this a legendary accomplishment - equally legendary is her planning and foresight for how the 5/10 would play out leaving her actually physically able to run the marathon.

She has done lots of interviews after the race with Dutch media. They love her, practically all, she and her answers are very entertaining and over the top excited. In between sentences by connecting and looking for Dutch and English words she's telling a lot, in a way you have to find yourself the exact content. Hard to reproduce. But one stands, she's over the moon happy. Her ultimate goal is reached, but she is not at all finished.

absolute BS

Hassan told press that she had a very hard time during the marathon and hardly had slept after the 10k (she was frustrated about 5k and 10k), every step did hurt and cursing she had done the 5k and 10k. She blamed herself she could've had fresh legs, because her opponents had fresh legs.

She also had to stay calm, not going with the accelerations by Obiri, Assefa, Cheptegei and others. Forcing herself to stay patient and calm, kept on ploughing, she knew she could, if she managed to stay with the group, to squeeze out a last kick.

Which she did.

Not to forget; the day before it was a couple degrees colder, much of beloved favourites called it a day on that parcour.

Is there any argument against Hassan being the greatest female runner of all time at this point? Who else is elite at the 800 to the marathon with the medals and world records to back it up?

Why do you think she's clean?

One: because of her slow and consistent progress over16 years.

I am sorry, but anyone who trained under Alberto Salazar should have a big asterisk next to all of their results. Sorry but not sorry, this is not a racist position, Galen Rupp is most definitely included along with Mo Farah and Hassan. Why would Hassan choose to join Salazar back in 2016 when she knew that Salazar was already under investigation for possible anti-Doping violations?

flotrack.org

World Champion Sifan Hassan Reportedly To Be Coached By Alberto Salazar - FloTrack

Meg Bellino

World Indoor 1500m Champion Sifan Hassan is reportedly joining Alberto Salazar's training group.

Open link

Get your knowledge together mate.

and just only once, try to stay on topic mate

I think there are lots of arguments against Hassan as GOAT. Doesn't mean any of them are right. But Hassan is undoubtedly the most singular female runner of all time, and running the way she does is going to leave holes.

Hassan has never been as dominant in an event as Kipyegon in the 1500, or several other runners in their best events. It's been very rare for her to come into a global final as a prohibitive favorite (maybe 2019?). And in global championships, she has more minor medals than golds.

She's run world records, but only 3, including the hour run. Her mile world record was crushed last year by Kipyegon, while her 10000 world record was broken 2 days later by Gidey. If you're talking most outrageous records, Hassan hasn't quite reached the heights of Kipyegon, Gidey, and maybe one or two others.

On a similar note, while Hassan is #2 all-time in the marathon, Assefa's time is nearly two minutes faster than hers. That's a huge margin, and depending on how you weight the different parts of the sport, there's still an argument that Assefa is the world's best marathoner.

Hassan has never run world cross, which Tirunesh Dibaba won four times. Dibaba also has more global golds, and exactly the same (multi)set of Olympic medals. There are several other multiple-time World XC champions who also have stellar track and/or road resumes which could enter the discussion: Grete Waitz, Derartu Tulu, Paula Radcliffe.

So, it depends how you look at it. To me, Hassan is the GOAT. But last year, we were all saying that Kipyegon was the GOAT, and she just won gold and silver, and broke an Olympic record. If you look for dominance in a single event, with a moderate ability to go outside that event, Kipyegon would still be ahead of Hassan. If you look for times, or record in major championships, Hassan also would not be #1.

I do think all of that fails to capture Hassan's brilliance. She is close to, and sometimes better than, the other greats at their own specialties. Meanwhile, Hassan can do things no other runner can come close to matching. To me, that means GOAT.

But Hassan has ruined that question for us forever. There will always be an argument that others are better (see above). And there will always be an argument that Hassan is the greatest, since what future runner will even dream of running two Olympic triples, over four events, and winning medals in every event (3 gold). It is likely that Hassan, like Nurmi, like Zatopek--but perhaps unlike any other runner today--will never be entirely outclassed, fully relegated to the mists of time.