Sifan Hassan on her audacious Chicago Marathon bid: “I am really curious and I don’t know what’s going to happen”

Sifan Hassan is well known for taking on challenges. But this may be her most audacious yet.

A mere six weeks after she finished her campaign over three different distances at the World Athletics Championships, the athlete is at it again - this time over the 42.195km distance.

Hassan has only run one marathon in her life but that topsy-turvy rollercoaster of a race saw her crowned champion at this year’s London Marathon.

It was as dramatic a race as you could wish to see with a missed water break and near-miss with a motorbike among the highlights of a thrilling run from the 30-year-old in which she stopped at various points along the course to stretch her legs.

However, Hassan is somewhat used to dramatic races and more came at the Worlds in Budapest.

Just metres from the finish line, the athlete stumbled and fell to the floor while in the gold medal position.

While the trip cost her the chance of 10,000m gold she still left Budapest with a silver and bronze medal from the 5000m and 1500m respectively.

Now she faces another terrific challenge in the shape of a second career marathon, where she will face the likes of, the winner of the 2021 and 2022 editions of the race in Chicago.

Will she be able to triumph against the odds in the Windy City?

“I am really curious and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she says.

Sifan Hassan: "I just want to challenge myself, otherwise I get bored"

“Sometimes I wake up and think, why the hell am I running a marathon?” Hassan told the media before her first marathon bid in London last April.

At the time, it seemed like an obvious question to ask. She had, after all, had limited training time and even spent the weeks prior to the race fasting for Ramadan.

However, Hassan has proven herself to be a competitor who is more than willing to do what most runners would think impossible.

Take, for instance, her participation at Tokyo 2020. When she announced that she would race the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m she sent ripples of shock across the athletics community.

Yet two golds and a bronze medal later, people began to understand that Hassan may just be built differently.

Today, that challenge seems almost light work when compared to her most recent ventures, bouncing from the track to the roads in a way that many would find implausible.

Most athletes don’t return to the track after beginning their marathon career. Yet Hassan seems more than happy to test the limits of what is possible.

“I just want to challenge myself,” she said of her forays into the gruelling world of running multiple distances at major championships. “Otherwise I get bored.”

But beyond her obvious itchy feet that see her bounce from one seemingly unthinkable test to another is a world-class athlete who doesn’t put restraints on he potential.

“No human is limited,” marathon great Eliud Kipchoge is fond of saying. Hassan is living proof of this.

Sifan Hassan’s greatest challenges

August 2021

Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: Having chosen to compete in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m, Hassan left Tokyo with gold in the latter two events and bronze in the metric mile. 

April 2023

London Marathon: Running in her first-ever marathon, Hassan looked to be injured midway through the race and stopped more than once to stretch. However, after making up a 2-minute gap to the lead group she sprinted to the line to win her maiden marathon race in dramatic fashion.

August 2023

World Athletics Championships in Budapest: Once again, Hassan decided to compete in three events after suggesting earlier in the year that the 1500m would be out of her reach after her transition to the marathon. A fall cost her victory in the 10,000m but silver in the 5000m and bronze in the 1500m saw her leave Hungary with two medals.

October 2023

Just six weeks after the rigours of the World Championships, Hassan returns to take on the legendary marathon distance in Chicago.