Hassan set a new 10000m World Record at the FBK Games in Hengelo on June,6th. The previous mark was held by Almaz Ayana who set the record 5 years ago at the Rio Olympics. Hassan’s 29:06.82 shaved more than 10 seconds off the time set by the Ethiopian Olympic Champion. But hardly 2 days later Hassan’s record was already gone. Another Ethiopian Letesenbet Gidey erased Hassan’s mark at the Ethiopian trials, held on the very same track in Hengelo. Gidey’s World Record now stands at 29:01.03.
Hassan is determined to regain the 10000m World Record at the occasion of the 45th edition of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme on Sep.3rd. Hassan aims to become the first woman to crack the magical 29 minutes barrier on the distance. The 28 year old Dutchwoman is very confident about the track at the King Baudouin Stadium. Last year she set new One Hour and 20000m World Best marks in Brussels. And in 2019 she won the 5000m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels.
Hassan is also the reigning World 10000m and World 1500m Champion and she is highly favoured to win Olympic golds in Tokyo as well. Hassan wants to add the 5000m to her Olympic program and she has reasonable chances to win that event as well – although it is a gruelling task to compete in all three distances. Therefore Hassan will decide on the races that she will compete in only at the very last moment and depending on how she feels in Tokyo. “I want to win two Olympic gold medals”, says Hassan. “But if I win two silver medals I will only be satisfied if I didn’t make any mistakes and if I ran at my best. It would mean that the other athletes performed better on the day.”
The Women’s 10000m replaces the Men’s 10000m in the program of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme.
