Gold for Sifan Hassan in the marathon and a new Olympic record

Sifan Hassan wins the marathon. Photo: Robin van Lonkhuijsen ANP

Sifan Hassan won the gold medal in the marathon on the last day of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, crossing the finishing line in a sprint finish just a few metres ahead of Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia. The bronze went to Kenya’s Hellen Obiri.

The Dutchwoman not only won gold but set a new Olympic record with a time of 2:22:55.

The gold, described by the BBC as “a truly phenomenal feat of endurance running”, is Hassan’s third medal of the games. She earlier won bronze in the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres.

The 31-year-old is the first woman to win Olympic medals over all three distances  and the Paris event is only her fourth competitive marathon.

In 2023 she won the London marathon in 2.18.33. Six months later she won in Chicago in the second ever fastest time of 2:13:44, and earlier this year was fourth in Tokyo.

Saturday, the second last day of the Olympics, brought a new flurry of medals for the Netherlands, including silver for the Dutch women in the 4×400 relay.

The Dutch team of Femke Bok, Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters and Lisanne de Witte set a new Dutch record in 3.19.50 but were still over four seconds slower than the US.

“Gold was out of reach for us, so we are more than happy with silver,” Peters said after the race. It is the first Olympic medal at this distance for Dutch women, who are currently European and world title holders.

In the synchronised swimming, identical Dutch twins Noortje and Bregje de Brouwer won the bronze medal, with favourites China clinching gold and the British duo a surprising silver.

The women’s water polo team also won the bronze medal, with Sabrina van der Sloot making it 11-10 against the US in the dying seconds of the game.

The Netherlands is now in seventh place on the medals table, with 14 gold, seven silver and 12 bronze medals – the Olympic squad’s best-ever performance.

NOS has a short video featuring all the Dutch golds so far

Later on Sunday, Dutch athletes are again in action on the cycling track.

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