![]() As The Times reported in its post-event coverage, at a news conference after her victory Hassan demonstrated the mindset that powered her through and showed why she is an elite athlete. She wasn’t sure if she would even finish the marathon, much less end up winning it all. That meant she also couldn’t practice things like how to stop to grab water, which led to the perilous motorbike situation. In an interview with The New York Times before the race, Hassan said she could not train at an optimal level due to her fasting. ![]() London was her first marathon, though, and the fact that training for it overlapped with Ramadan weighed on her mind. She holds records in the mile and 5-kilometer distances. In fact, she’s a dominant figure in middle-distance running with medals from the Tokyo Olympics in the 1,500-, 5,000- and 10,000-meter races. She also paused to hydrate at a water station only to be nearly run over by a motorbike.ĭon’t assume these incidents mean Hassan is a rookie runner, though. As she approached the end, she wasn’t sure how far she was from the finish line. The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner kicked into high gear around the course’s final turn and sprinted toward the finish, passing two other athletes along the way - and that was just the last in a series of “did that really happen?” moments that would have derailed other competitors.įor one, Hassan had lingering hip pain that prompted her to stop - twice - during the race to stretch. Hassan, who won the elite women’s division in 2:18:33, prevailed in dramatic fashion. ![]() It can be a challenge when training for other big events - say, a major world marathon.Īnd yet, Sifan Hassan showed on Sunday at the London Marathon that even performance hiccups caused by limited training could be overcome. This doesn’t mean that observing Ramadan is a walk in the park for every athlete. (Sanogo told The Times that he relies on lip balm to ward off dry lips.) The call to go without fluids seems like an especially high hurdle, but apparently it’s not insurmountable. He and team trainers have figured out a system that allows him, as well as two of his teammates, to get the nutrition they need while also honoring their faith.Įven though these athletes say they’ve grown accustomed to fasting, it’s still hard to fathom from a non-Muslim perspective. Sanogo, like many Muslims who’ve observed Ramadan since childhood, said in a New York Times interview last month that fasting is not a huge impediment to his active life. Ramadan is a time therefore not just of sacrifice - faithful do not eat or drink anything while the sun is up - but also of increased prayer and spiritual reflection. Muslims believe that during the holy month, the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the prophet Muhammad. The Huskies were led by junior co-captain Adama Sanogo, who was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player and notched a double-double in the championship game against San Diego State - feats he accomplished while fasting from sunup to sundown as required during Ramadan. One notable moment was the UConn men’s basketball team’s winning run in the NCAA Tournament, which overlapped with the first weeks of Ramadan. We all love stories about athletes overcoming hardships to achieve great things, and the recently completed Muslim holy month of Ramadan provided many examples of endurance resulting in success.
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