This is the true story of Sifan Hassan and her incredible comeback during the 1500M qualifying heat at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, going on to also win the gold in the 5000m and the 10,000m.
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00:00She was stuck at the back of the pack when another runner tripped and sent her violently
00:04slamming into the ground. Sifan picked herself back up and she tried to stay in the race,
00:09but by this point she'd fallen hopelessly far behind. However, Sifan had already overcome so
00:14much to get to this moment. She certainly wasn't going to let this setback destroy her spirit.
00:19See, at just 15 years old, Sifan left her home country of Ethiopia in search of a better life.
00:25She's never spoken publicly about what exactly drove her decision to leave, but in 2008 she
00:31arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee, completely alone. When she arrived, she began teaching
00:36herself to speak Dutch, and she began travelling across the country searching for a place that
00:41felt like home. Eventually, she landed in the city of Eindhoven, where she was pleasantly
00:45surprised to meet other Ethiopians who welcomed her into the local running team, and Sifan began
00:50to fall in love with the sport. At first, it was hard for Sifan to have the discipline to train.
00:55She was headstrong and independent. She didn't want anyone telling her what to do, but the team
01:00and coaches could see her potential, and as they slowly started to gain her trust, she began
01:05listening and practising, and she started perfecting her technique. By 2013, Sifan had well and truly
01:10found her stride, and when she officially became a Dutch citizen, she was accepted into the Dutch
01:15national team. Sifan started winning local and eventually international championships, and she
01:20was eventually invited to the Elite Olympic Training Centre in Papendal. By the time the
01:25Tokyo Olympics arrived, Sifan had proven herself as a versatile runner, winning both the 1500m
01:31and the 10,000m at the World Championships in 2019.
01:35Never have we seen a man or woman win the 10,000m and the 1500m.
01:40Most other runners typically specialise in one or two distances that they feel comfortable with,
01:45but at this point, Sifan felt like she was unstoppable, so she committed herself to running
01:50three long distance races in the Tokyo Olympics. The 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m, which is basically
01:57unheard of for a single runner. The race where she was tripped was the initial 1500m qualifying heat.
02:03After this heat, Sifan would only have 12 hours to prepare for the 5000m finals, and after that,
02:09she'd have one to two days between each remaining event. So she didn't want to push herself too hard
02:14during the qualifiers, but after falling, she was left with little hope of making it to the finals.
02:19And unfortunately, she had no choice but to push herself to her absolute limit. To the crowd's
02:25utter disbelief, Sifan had now pushed all the way from the back, past the other runners, and it
02:30looked like she might actually have a shot of qualifying. But as the runners came down the final
02:35straight, Sifan didn't just qualify. She won. And only 12 hours after this race, she went on to win
02:43gold in the 5000m finals, and then later, gold again in the 10,000m finals. And when she secured
02:49bronze in the 1500m finals, she became the first athlete to ever win a medal in all three events
02:55at a single Olympics.