Marathon Finish Hailed as One of Olympics' Best Feats

Sifan Hassan won the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics on Sunday in dramatic fashion, passing Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia to take the lead—but only after a few moments in which the runners were shoulder to shoulder, jostling, before the Dutch runner broke away and sprinted to the finish line (watch it here). Making Hassan's gold medal even more impressive? The fact that she won bronze in the women's 5,000 meters Monday, then won bronze in the women's 10,000 meters Friday, before competing in the marathon. "Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters," she said after winning the marathon. "I was telling myself if I hadn't done that, I would feel great today. From beginning to end, it was so hard. Every step of the way, I was thinking, 'Why did I do that? What is wrong with me?'" A sampling of the reactions to the feat:

• "You can argue what Hassan did in Paris is the greatest accomplishment in the history of the Summer Games," writes Dan Wolken at USA Today. "At this elite level of distance running, athletes' bodies are finely tuned to be in peak form for one particular day. The marathon is the ultimate test of endurance, and thousands of hours of sport science have been devoted to the ideal amounts of training, rest, calorie consumption and hydration necessary to last the 26.2 miles. All that goes out the window when you run a 5k, a 10k and a marathon—all within about 142 hours—against the best in the world."
• "Much has been written about the great athletes at these Games. Somewhere on that list, there must be a place for Hassan. In Tokyo, she won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 and took bronze in the 1,500. It seemed outlandish. Then she came here, vowing to do even more," writes Les Carpenter at the Washington Post.
• Also making headlines was the fact that Hassan, who was born in Ethiopia, wore a hijab at the medal ceremony, which MSN reports was being called a "powerful" statement on the "true strength of immigration," especially in light of France's ban on its own athletes wearing any religious clothing during the games.

As for the aforementioned jostling, Ethiopia protested the finish on the grounds of obstruction, but that protest was rejected. (More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)