Sifan Hassan, the RunBlogRun Interview , speaks on Cross Country, Tokyo, Paris, Part 1/3

This is part 1 of 3 of our exclusive interview with Sifan Hassan

Sifan Hassan is one of the most popular and fascinating athletes in the world! In all of our social media for Paris 2024, Sifan Hassan was most popular global athlete from Paris 2024! 

Sifan Hassan and her family moved to the Netherlands in 2008 at 15 as a political refugee from Ethiopia. Sifan became a citizen of the Netherlands in 2013. This writer first saw her at the 2014 European Athletics Outdoor Championships in August 2014 in Zurich. At the EAC, Sifan took bronze in the 5,000m and won the 1,500m! It was always fun watching Sifan race and her emotional response to her racing and obvious enjoyment of the sport! 

Sifan has always raced over the spectrum. Early in her career, she ran from 800 meters to the half marathon to cross country. In December 2013, Sifan Hassan took gold in the European Athletics U 23 Cross Country champs, plus helped the Netherlands team take the bronze medal! That was the first time she represented her new country, the Netherlands. 

Sifan owned the world record in the mile from 2019 to 2023 (4:12). She owned the 10,000m world record for two days and still owns the World record for the hour run (18,930 meters is 11.7623 miles), which is brutal! 

In terms of European records? Sifan Hassan holds European records at 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m, 10,000m, half marathon and marathon! 

Sifan Hassan is a tremendously talented athlete who works hard, laughs, and races with abandon. On RunBlogRun’s global audience, she is one of our most popular, judging by social media response, and the article reads. 

We reached out to Brett Holts at NIKE sports marketing and asked if he could help us reach Sifan Hassan. Not only did Brett Holts get it done, but the speed with which the interview came back was incredible! 

We hope you enjoy these insights into Sifan Hassan, who just won bronze at the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and then gold in the marathon! Those are her fourth, fifth, and sixth Olympic medals. 

Cross-Country

1. RunBlogRun: Sifan, what were your first experiences in cross country like? What’s your biggest lesson from running cross country? What is the best racing tip you can give young runners about cross country?

Sifan Hassan:  I have always loved cross-country. I grew up in the mountains and actually most enjoy running on uneven terrain.

Cross country taught me so much in terms of patience and placement in racing. I love the freedom of movement in cross country, which you also
find in road running. In track races, everybody’s afraid of running too hard or running too far on an outside lane. I don’t like this, so I always stay in the back. I feel like cross-country gives you many more options.

I recommend starting off slowly and pacing yourself well. I remember starting off way too fast once, and it felt more complicated than a marathon.

2. RunBlogRun: Will we see you race more cross-country races?

Sifan Hassan: I would absolutely love to! I like the idea of including cross-country races in the build-up to a marathon. The schedule makes it hard, but I would love to include more next season.

Tokyo 2020

3. RunBlogRun; In Tokyo, in the heats, you fell in the 1,500m, and I remember you getting up and sprinting to catch up, moving to the final; tell us about that race?

Sifan Hassan: It was one of the most emotional moments of my career. The Olympics are the highest point in our sport, something I’ve worked so hard for. Thinking I might lose my chance at a medal because of a fall made me get back up immediately and focus even more on what I wanted to accomplish. It also gave me the push I needed for the 5000m final later that evening.

Budapest 2023

4. RunBlogRun: How’s the fall in the homestretch of the 10,000m impacted you?

Sifan Hassan: Of course, I would have preferred not to fall. But if I can put it this way, I don’t think I needed the medal to prove something to myself. Making it that far into the race was an achievement in itself, and though the fall was unfortunate, I was still happy with my performance. Seeing Femke (Bol) fall in the relay later on also helped put things into perspective for both of us, I think.

Watch for Part 2 tomorrow!