World Athletics Championships Budapest 23: If anyone can, Sifan Hassan can

There’s a running joke on the World Athletics social handles about what Sifan Hassan does on her rest days.

During the last Olympics in Tokyo, edited images of the Dutch athlete partaking in various activities - from trampolining to show jumping - alongside the hashtag #SifansDayOff were posted by the athletics federation speculating what Hassan might be doing on the rare moments she took a break from her gruelling schedule of rounds and finals in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m at the Games.

Hassan often gets on board with these jokes by reposting them on her Instagram stories and clearly enjoys the humorous side of her historic feats - even while most elite athletes would grimace at the thought of even attempting them.

Running a double at the Olympics? Now that’s hard. Running three events from 1500-10,000m? Well, that’s almost unheard of.

But the 30-year-old raised even more eyebrows earlier this year when she took on her first-ever 42.195km race at this year's London Marathon.

In true Hassan fashion, nothing was straightforward.

“Sometimes I wake up and think: Why the hell am I running a marathon?” she exclaimed in the press conference leading up to the event, explaining that the distance terrified her and that her final training block had been severely disrupted due to her fasting during Ramadan.

Once she was running, things didn’t get easier. She stopped more than once to stretch, had a near-miss with a motorbike after almost missing a water stop, and looked for all the world as if she wouldn’t make it to the finish line.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned over recent years, it’s that if anyone can, Hassan can.

After a final 200m sprint in which she drew upon all the track speed her legs could muster, the Ethiopian-born runner didn’t only finish her debut marathon, she won it.

More days off at the upcoming Worlds but gold still the goal for Sifan Hassan

This year’s World Athletics Championships take place from 19-27 August in Budapest and speculation was rife about what Hassan might attempt.

Would she go for treble gold on the track? Would she stick with the marathon? Or, shock, horror, could she attempt a 10k/marathon double?

And the athlete hasn't disappointed her fans, opting to again run the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m in Hungary. 

Even the fact she is returning to track racing will come as a small shock to some. Many athletes taste a marathon and don’t go back to running in spikes - their bodies can’t handle the transition.

But it’s worth stating again: If anyone can, Hassan can.

“Many people say I’m crazy,” she said before her attempt at the same treble at Tokyo 2020. “Believe me, I think I’m crazy too."

Yet by the end of the Games, she had won two Olympic golds in the longer distances and a bronze in the metric mile.

Whatever she thinks of herself, her results speak volumes about her brilliance as an athlete.

What could Sifan Hassan do next?

“About one year ago my coach told me you are going to run the 10,000m. I looked at him and I said ‘I’m never going to do this!’” Hassan said at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.

“Six months ago I think I was on holiday when he told me I was going to run the 10,000m for the first time. It was so boring but here I am!”

And there she was indeed. Right there on the top step of the podium having won World gold in the exact event she had been so reluctant to run.

Two years later, boredom was once again rearing its head as Hassan contemplated taking on three distances at Tokyo 2020.

“I just want to challenge myself, otherwise I find it boring. One distance is nothing, so I just wanted to try it,” she said at the time.

Two golds and a bronze followed that moment of boredom.

However, should she get bored again in the lead-up to Paris 2024, what’s left to do for a runner who has won world or Olympic gold from 1500m through to 10k and has even taken the daunting step up to marathon in her graceful stride?

With fewer options available, the biggest question may no longer be what’s Sifan Hassan doing on her days off, but what’s she doing on her days on?

One thing, though, should never be doubted: If anyone can, Hassan can.