Sifan Hassan

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Sifan Hassan
230px
Hassan at the 2015 European Indoor Championships
Personal information
Nationality Dutch
Born (1993-01-01) January 1, 1993 (age 31)[1]
Nazreth, Ethiopia
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 49 kg (108 lb)
Sport
Country  Netherlands
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 1500 metres

Sifan Hassan (Oromo: Siifan Hassan; born 1993) is an Ethiopian-Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is the Dutch indoor record holder for the 1500 metres and 3000 metres and was the under-23 winner at the 2013 European Cross Country Championships. Hassan won the gold medal at 1500 m at the European Athletics Championships Zürich 2014.

Born in Nazreth in Ethiopia,[2] she left the country as a refugee and arrived in the Netherlands in 2008 at age fifteen. She began running while undertaking studies to become a nurse.[3]

Affiliated with Eindhoven Atletiek,[4] she entered the Eindhoven Half Marathon in 2011 and won the race with a time of 77:10 minutes. She was also runner-up at two cross country races (Sylvestercross and Mol Lotto Cross Cup). She won those races in 2012, as well as the 3000 m at the Leiden Gouden Spike meeting.[5]

Sifan made her breakthrough in the 2013 season. She ran an 800 metres best of 2:00.86 minutes to win at the KBC Night of Athletics and took wins over 1500 m at the Nijmegen Global Athletics and Golden Spike Ostrava meetings. On the 2013 IAAF Diamond League circuit she was runner-up in the 1500 m at Athletissima with a personal best of 4:03.73 minutes and was third at the DN Galan 3000 m with a best of 8:32.53 minutes – this time ranked her the fourth fastest in the world that year.[5][6]

She gained Dutch citizenship in November 2013 and the following month she made her first appearance for her adopted country. At the 2013 European Cross Country Championships she won the gold medal in the under-23 category and helped the Dutch team to third in the rankings.[7] She also won the Warandeloop and Lotto Cross Cup Brussels races that winter.[8] At the beginning of 2014 she ran a world leading time of 8:45.32 minutes for the 3000 m at the Weltklasse in Karlsruhe,[9] then broke the Dutch record in the indoor 1500 m with a run of 4:05.34 minutes at the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix.[10]

At the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, Hassan won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters. She became the second female Dutch athlete ever to win a medal at the World Championships, after Dafne Schippers. She was the third female Dutch winner at the 2015 European Cross Country Championships, following in the footsteps of fellow African migrants Hilda Kibet and Lornah Kiplagat.[11]

Personal bests

Indoor personal bests

  • 800 metres - 2:04.16 (Gent (Topsporthal), 09 Feb. 2014)
  • 1500 metres - 4:00.46 (Stockholm (Globe Arena), 19 Feb. 2015)
  • 3000 metres - 8:45.32 (Karlsruhe (Europahalle), 01 Feb. 2014)[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hassan. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-08-27.
  2. Brink, Cors Van den (2013-11-24). Een Edammertje voor de atlete uit Nazareth (Dutch). Atletiek Week. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  3. Sifan Hassan. Global Sports Communication. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  4. Sifan Hassan. European Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Sifan Hassan. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  6. Rorick, Jim (2013-10-22). 2013 World Comprehensive List - Women. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2014-03-01.
  7. Mulkeen, Jon (2013-12-08). Third time lucky for Duarte at European Cross as Bezabeh regains title. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  8. Minshull, Phil (2013-12-22). Hassan and Kibet take the honours in Brussels – IAAF Cross Country Permit. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  9. Minshull, Phil (2014-02-01). Genzebe Dibaba smashes world indoor 1500m record with 3:55.17 in Karlsruhe. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  10. Birmingham: Sifan Hassan verbetert NR 1500m: 4’05″34 (Dutch). Losse Veter. Retrieved on 2014-02-22.
  11. Hassan and Kaya victorious at European Cross Country Championships. IAAF (2015-12-13). Retrieved on 2015-12-13.

External links

Template:Footer IAAF Diamond League 1500 Metres Champions Women