This is the greatest achievement in distance running that it has been my privilege to witness in my 43 years of life. I am in tears. Hassan is the toughest athlete alive.
It looked like Assefa made a couple of questionable obstructive moves the last minute. One was egregious. Fortunately Hissan had the strength to stay upright and outkick
She literally hip-checked her into the boards (I didn't know she played hockey), and it still wasn't good enough to stop Hassan.
Exactly. They could’ve both fallen, but to me it looked like a dirty move. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Kenyans lodged a protest out of spite to see if they could snag a medal for Lokedi. (Obviously won’t happen, but it’s not crazy).
On one hand I believe that Fiona earned the spot so she can do what she wants, if McClain wanted to guarantee her spot, she should have done it at trials. On the other hand, it's kind of a sh*t move to just take the gun for the title of "Olympian" knowing you cannot even finish. TBH, I'm not sure what I would have done in that situation, you never know if you will ever get another shot to be an Olympian.
She has the right to do what she wants, but...she could have always said and will always be able to "I won the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2024". Silly semantics ruin everything.
If you are top 3 in your event to go to the Olympics, you are an Olympian, period. Please don't compare that to boycotts. The competing part is truly semantics.
According to the rules if you do not start your event you are not an Olympian and must return all your stuff. Linden learned that in London which is why she started. Same with O'Keeffe.
Jessica McClain must be pissed that she flew to Paris to see O'Keefe be done.
Exactly, she had to know she was injured since she was limping from the get-go. I know she wants to be considered an Olympian but when you have another athlete waiting there ready to go the right thing to do is let run. You can still be considered an Olympian.
That isn't true. Making a team dies make you an Olympian, only competing does. She probably wanted to be an official Olympian.
Exactly, she had to know she was injured since she was limping from the get-go. I know she wants to be considered an Olympian but when you have another athlete waiting there ready to go the right thing to do is let run. You can still be considered an Olympian.
That isn't true. Making a team dies make you an Olympian, only competing does. She probably wanted to be an official Olympian.
O Keeffe started limping 100m apparently. I'd be upset if I was Jessica McClain
I'm upset as an American. O Keeffe put herself over her country. She should have taken a cue from Sisay Lemma and let the alternate run, which obviously worked out well for their country Ethiopia in the men's race. I was a fan but no more.
"Fiona O’Keeffe’s coach Alistair Cragg said they’re still not quite sure what the injury that caused her to DNF today is, but he said she has been experiencing hip flexor tightness. Issue began a week ago."
When she won the Trials my wife said, she's too thin. Something will not go well.
What a weird, but wonderful race. I really didnt expect Hassan to be so dominant after having so much racing in her legs already. Also didn’t expect Obiri and Jepchirchir to be dropped. Lokedi looked great. Assefa trying to cut off Hassan could have ended badly, I’m glad it didn’t.
O Keeffe started limping 100m apparently. I'd be upset if I was Jessica McClain
I'm upset as an American. O Keeffe put herself over her country. She should have taken a cue from Sisay Lemma and let the alternate run, which obviously worked out well for their country Ethiopia in the men's race. I was a fan but no more.
Having read Des Linden's book, I disagree.
O keeffe earned her place. It is hers to do as she pleases. An athletes career is not long or lucrative, she deserves to have her time in the limelight. If you don't like it you can qualify instead next time.
Apart from the result, this was a masterclass in conserving energy during a marathon from Hassan. She held the blue line all the way, didn’t push the hills, withstood the temptation to go faster when she felt good before 20k (as she just told in an interview), took all her bottles and so forth.
And had the gel cooling headband.
No gel head band, but with crystals, are cooling you for a longer period when they get wet, coming from triathlon.
Seems to me like they felt offended on their terms, started to cut Sifan out as much as possible on this site, with a climax to just ignore her as much as possible and asking her dumb questions during the Oly, just what I noticed last couple months.
Hassan was simply amazing. I love that she doesn’t wear a watch and runs to feel.
GB women appear to have had a shocker. Charlotte Purdue was out after rolling her ankle. I actually saw her hobbling down my high street last week. Not on crutches though and not strapped up. She looked quite pale and sad.
Was expecting more from Calli Thackeray- DNF. Who knows why.
Rose Harvey limped over the line clearly injured. In 85th or something.
I’m curious what happened to Sisson, and I don’t want to hear it had to do with the hills. She was back off the pack long before the hills started, and at a very reasonable pace for herself. I wonder if it has anything to do with her side stitches.