Fans Around the World React to Hassan’s Fall and Comeback Win
Sifan Hassan's bid to be the first runner in history to win all three distance running events on the track is off to a victorious start after her 5,000 meter win. Here's how she's inspiring fans spanning the globe.
Yesterday in Tokyo, Sifan Hassan started her bid to be the first runner in history to win all three distance running events on the track, the 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m. Her quest looked over when she fell in the final lap of her 1500m heat in the Tokyo morning, but she got back up, passed the whole field and not only qualified to advance, but won the heat. Later in the day, she showed that the fall and comeback hadn’t hurt her any when she won the 5,000m final with a 57.29-second final lap, pulling away from Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and Ethiopias Gudaf Tsegay.
Fans around the world have celebrated both the comeback and the victory with amazement and admiration.
All the Feels
To relive the fall and comeback with goosebumps, watch this clip set to Chariots of Fire.
https://twitter.com/TQuiela/status/1422024197442875393
Inspiring
Some fans evoked words of other great athletes:
Sifan Hassan.
Superhuman.“You don’t lose if you get knocked down. You lose if you stay down” – Muhammad Ali.#sifanhassan#TokyoOlympics2020 #TrackandField pic.twitter.com/Hz8LduQv6G
— Bart Slim (@BartSlim) August 2, 2021
Or music lyrics:
https://twitter.com/Germaine24970/status/1422183198331744260
Fellow runners, some politicians, are awe-struck.
https://twitter.com/QasimRashid/status/1422054414467141637
Superlatives
“Most,” “Best,” Greatest,” “Of all time” thread through the commentary.
Sifan Hassan fell down with one lap to go in her 1500 heat, got up in last place and won. *Later that day* she won gold in the women’s 5000. There has never been a more inspiring single day of Olympic competition. Possibly the greatest athlete of all time.
— Jason Stanley (@jasonintrator) August 2, 2021
Global
The Dutch Olympic team celebrate, quoting Hassan, “I was shocked for a while, but immediately thought: I can’t stop.”
People close to her bask in reflected light.
American media outlets puts her on a well-deserved pedestal.
Falling on the last lap of a 1500 is only a problem if your name isn’t Sifan Hassan
— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) August 2, 2021