Sifan Hassan returns to London on Sunday bidding to regain the title she won on her marathon debut in 2023.
The Dutch star lit up the marathon scene on her first outing with a drama-filled performance that saw her lose touch with the race leaders as she stopped to stretch out a painful leg injury.
Hassan’s famed speed from her track career propelled her back into contention, via a near miss with an official race motorbike, and she ran away from her rivals as they entered The Mall for a famous win.
Since then, she ran 2:13 in Chicago which was the second fastest time in history at the time, won the AbbottWMM Series and picked up Olympic Marathon gold in Paris at the end of a grueling Games track schedule.
That gold was won in a fierce sprint finish with Tigist Assefa, who she will come face to face with again on Sunday.
The pair are fancied to be the leading contenders once again here after the withdrawals of current world record-holder Ruth Chepngetich and 2024 London champion Peres Jepchirchir.
"I don't know why I get nervous and scared about the marathon but you have to go for over two hours," said Hassan. "I had a lot of drama in my win two years ago.
"Everybody is asking me 'Do you remember what happened in London in 2023?' I don't remember a lot of it in all honesty. I was throwing up before the race and then I had some issues in the race. The biggest thing I remember was the last five kilometers and that part was crazy."
Assefa is seeking to banish memories of that near miss in London she had last year against Jepchirchir, as well as the last-gasp defeat to Hassan on the streets of Paris.
“London Marathon is a big event and there are lots of reasons why I like to run here," she explained. "To win here will mean so much to me in my career."
The pair are joined by Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, the 2021 TCS London Marathon champion who also has the TCS New York City title under her belt.
Despite the late withdrawals, Hassan likened the competition she’ll face this weekend to that she went up against in Paris last summer: “Every time you run the London Marathon, it's like competing the Olympics. I'm excited to race because we all know each other as well. It's a beautiful sport."
London’s elite field coordinator Spencer Barden told Marathon Talk he was hopeful the leading women can threaten the women’s only world record set last year by Jepchirchir.
“If we are going to go world record pace, you’re looking at 67:30 through halfway,” he said. “I expect the pacer athletes to get halfway and if they can get to 25km, even better.
“That’s when the race will really start. Ultimately we’d like a group of five or six athletes going along the Embankment and onto The Mall.”
Given the finishing speed she has already demonstrated in London, Hassan would probably be happy with that too.
Listen to Spencer’s full interview in the all new pre-London Marathon Talk show.
