WORLD CHAMPIONS SIFAN Hassan capped her audacious bid for an Olympic treble with a stunning victory in the women’s 10,000 metres on Saturday for her second gold, and third medal, of the Tokyo Games, while Norway’s Jacob Ingibritsen set a new Olympic record with a dazzling victory in the men’s 1500 metres final.
Hassan clocked 29min 55.32sec for gold, with Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne, also born in Ethiopia, claiming silver in 29:56.18.
Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, after leading for all but two kilometres of the 25-lap race, claimed bronze in 30:01.72.
Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey, after leading for all but two kilometres of the 25-lap race, claimed bronze in 30:01.72.
Gidey was comfortable in second behind early pace setter Ririka Hironaka of Japan, with Hassan close behind.
The Ethiopian world record holder over both 5,000 and 10,000m potentially lost an ally as teammate Tsigie Gebreseslama pulled up injured after just two laps.
But that proved to be false as, with 18 laps to run, Gidey moved to the front, followed by the phalanx of Kenyans as the lead pack was cut to 12.
Four laps further on and Gidey upped the pace and soon only Kenya’s 5,000m silver medallist Hellen Obiri and Irine Cheptai, Hassan and Gezahegne could cope with the Ethiopian’s unrelenting rhythm.
Moving into the final 10 laps, Cheptai had been dropped, leaving a clear four-way battle.
Obiri started to struggle and then it was down to three, Gidey looking powerful and in complete control, eyes occasionally flicking up to the stadium’s big screen.
At the bell that signalled the last lap, Gidey kicked, Hassan and Gezahegne quickly bunching in readiness for a counter-attack.
Shoulder to shoulder, Hassan swept past Gidey at the 150-metre mark.
Unlike the 1500m, when she was left flat-footed in the home stretch, Hassan ensured she made no mistake, producing a dazzling sprint away from the Bahraini, arms raised in glory as she crossed the line to claim her second gold of a remarkable Games.
Later, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the men’s 1500 metres title, setting a new Games record of 3min 28.32sec.
The 20-year-old added Olympic gold to his European title, easing home after passing long-time leader Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, who took silver in 3:29.01.
Britain’s Josh Kerr ran the race of his life to take the bronze in 3:29.05.
Cheruiyot had been the dominant force in the event for the past two years in the lead-up to Tokyo, winning 10 races on the trot, including the 2019 world title, but that run ended in the Kenyan trials.
The 25-year-old decided to impose himself early on, passing Ingebrigtsen after the Norwegian had taken the lead after 200m.
Cheruiyot gradually upped the pace and spreadeagled the field down the back straight of the penultimate lap.
Only Ingebrigtsen and Australian Stewart McSweyn were able to go with him while another Kenyan, Abel Kipsang, tried to bridge the gap.
Cheruiyot led at the bell, which was the point at which McSweyn could not find anymore and dropped away.
Kipsang moved into third but Cheruiyot could not shake off Ingebrigtsen, who took the lead in the final stages.
The Kenyan had no response and settled for silver while Kerr overtook Kipsang to take third.
Ingebrigtsen’s victory provided Norway with a second memorable victory on the track at the Tokyo Games after Karsten Warholm broke his own world record to win the men’s 400m hurdles.
Finally, Allyson Felix brought the curtain down on her glittering Olympic career with a seventh gold medal as the United States stormed to a crushing victory in the 4x400m women’s relay on Saturday.
Felix – who on Friday became the most decorated female track and field athlete of all time with a bronze in the individual 400m, helped a ‘Dream Team’ US quartet romp home in 3min 16.85sec along with Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad, and Athing Mu.
Poland took silver, while Jamaica took bronze.
The US also won gold in the men’s 4x400m relay, ahead of Netherlands in second and Botswana in third.
And on the field, Neeraj Chopra won India’s first-ever athletics gold medal at the Olympic Games with victory in the men’s javelin. Russia’s Mariya Lasitskene, an outspoken critic of her country’s anti-doping record, took gold in the women’s high jump.
