- Dutch athlete adds title to 5,000m gold and 1500m bronze
- Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne takes silver medal
Sifan Hassan’s odyssey from refugee to one of the greatest athletes of this or any other era was confirmed in Tokyo as she became the first person to win three medals over 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m.
The last leg of the treble, after 5,000m gold and 1,500m bronze, came as the Dutch athlete sprinted clear of Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne to win the 10,000m in 29min 55.32sec, with the Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia, the world record holder, winning bronze. It made Hassan the second woman to earn a medal in three individual track races at one Olympics. The other was also a Dutchwoman – Fanny Blankers-Koen, a mother of two who was known as the Flying Housewife, who won her three at the London Olympics in 1948.
