Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan made history at the Olympics Paris 2024, winning three medals and breaking a world record in the marathon.
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00:00Ethiopian-Dutch endurance runner Sifan Hassan completed a remarkable treble at Paris 2024
00:08to become the first woman to medal at the three longest races at the same Olympic Games.
00:14Hi, my name is Sifan Hassan. I'm an athlete from Netherlands.
00:19From refugee to six-time Olympic medalist, Sifan's incredible achievements have made her a global role model
00:25for boys and girls interested in track and field.
00:29The Olympic marathon record holder was in Qatar to launch the women's track and field program
00:34and develop national female athletes.
00:42Hi, Sifan. Thank you for joining us on The Dialogue.
00:45Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. Thanks so much.
00:48You're an endurance runner, I'm an endurance walker. Hopefully we can meet somewhere in the middle.
00:52That's great. Okay, let's ride.
00:55Sifan, you won the 2019 World Championships in the 1500m and 10,000m right here in Doha.
01:01Now you're back as a six-time Olympic medalist.
01:04Why was it important for you to return as a Qatar Foundation ambassador
01:07to launch a new program to inspire young girls?
01:10Because I really like to help people. I want to share my experience to the Qatar women
01:16and to females, to younger females, to the older also.
01:22Especially, you know, these young females, one day they're going to grow up,
01:25they're going to become a mother, you know, to guide children,
01:29whether they have a boy or whether they have a girl.
01:32So if the females live a better life, have more self-confidence and more stronger, more healthy,
01:39and they will also make the new generation give us a better life, have a healthy life.
01:47Now you just took home three medals in Paris and set an Olympics record in the marathon.
01:53You ran the 5000m, 10,000m and marathon, which is rare because of the short recovery times
01:59and the three longest races. Why did you put yourself to that challenge?
02:03I mean, I'm a very curious person. I like to challenge myself.
02:07And it was very tough. And more than the physical, it was really mind toughness.
02:14Because physically you can exercise, exercise makes you perfect.
02:18But the mind is always what blocks you because they think,
02:22oh, she's killing me or she's putting me in danger. They always block me out.
02:26And that's why I was so nervous. I was really scared.
02:29Single time I tell myself, why I'm doing this? That's not a good idea.
02:33I made the biggest mistake of my life. I shouldn't have done.
02:36I should only choose the marathon. I'm so tired. I'll do my best.
02:40But I really was like, OK, this is the situation. I put myself, I have to deal with it.
02:45I have to try to save as energy as possible.
02:48And the next day when in the marathon, I remember I told myself,
02:52I'm just an idiot why I did this and why I put myself in this.
02:56I remember the last 10m, I was really getting dizzy.
03:00I was feeling dizzy, but I told myself, oh, breathe well.
03:03Just try to, because I thought I'm going to fall down.
03:06I was like, breathe well, just cross the line, after cross the line.
03:09I can't tell you for two days, I couldn't believe it.
03:12It's more than the wind. I was like, you know, I was released.
03:16That's like all the stress. Alhamdulillah.
03:19I was like, every single time I open my eyes, I think it's a dream, you know.
03:25In Paris, you famously won the hijab to accept your gold medal at the closing ceremony.
03:30What message were you trying to convey?
03:32I didn't do it because I would get attention in the world.
03:35I didn't even care. I don't know that people even look at.
03:38But when I see in the world that the next day become crazy,
03:41and now that Israeli people are so suffering for hijab,
03:44and let people just wear wherever they want.
03:47If they are comfortable, I'm comfortable with it.
03:50If they are comfortable, let's wear and don't put them down.
03:53I wanted a Muslim girl, you know.
03:55See, she's hijabi, she's strong, she's Olympic champion, she's tough.
03:58I wanted to learn from, I wanted to exercise, and I wanted to work harder.
04:03They are strong, they have self-confidence, they can follow their dream, you know.
04:07They can do anything.
04:09Like most athletes, you've had your shares of ups and downs.
04:12In fact, you were even considering quitting after Rio 2016.
04:15But you came back stronger.
04:17What lessons can be learned from perceived failures or setbacks?
04:21To me, I really learned from myself.
04:25It's like, don't quit, and you don't know, because the future, no?
04:29One car needed, what's going to happen tomorrow?
04:31Of course, we're going to have ups and downs.
04:33I like to try.
04:35I mean, I'm nervous, I'm very nervous.
04:38But it's not like I'm tough or I'm special.
04:41But I really like to try new things.
04:43As young, I really have very difficult.
04:47When I get a failure to move forward, I have really difficult.
04:51But as I get older, and I understand that's part of life.
04:54Whether you are an athlete, or whether you are a student, or you are a worker, or you are anything.
05:02You're going to have a hard time, a challenging time, a failure time.
05:06But I think the people who have more failure are more successful if they accept it.
05:10If they learn from it, if they move forward.
05:14Sifan, you grew up in Ethiopia, raised by your mother and grandmother.
05:18With such strong role models in your life, is that where your commitment to inspire young women came from?
05:22Yeah, I really have a very, very strong mother.
05:25And my grandmother also, she's very tough.
05:28And my mother is like, I can't explain to you how tough she is.
05:32And I think the other reason also, because as a child, when I was like 60, 50, I moved to the Netherlands.
05:39I lived life being independent and living by myself.
05:44And then after a couple of years, I moved to the U.S.
05:47I think also I have really a lot of experience in the world.
05:52You know, seeing a lot of different of the world, and seeing different culture, and seeing different people.
05:59And that makes me more strong.
06:01Now, you arrived in the Netherlands alone, as a refugee, at 50 years old.
06:06So arriving in a new continent as a teenager, what was that like?
06:10That's really the toughest moment for me, because as a young, you need some guidance.
06:16You need some telling what is, this is the right path, this is the wrong path, do this, do that.
06:23It's just the moment I feel really sad, not safe, and hard, you know.
06:30Because I grew up in the village.
06:33So I asked them to do sports, and every sport was like, you have to pay money.
06:37I was young, I don't have that much money.
06:39And they told me, oh, run.
06:42It doesn't have cost.
06:44You don't have to pay money.
06:45I was like, oh, I love running.
06:46And I went to the club, and they were like, oh, you get great talent.
06:50But I still, I was like, oh, I'm not going to do it.
06:53I'm not going to do it.
06:54I'm not going to do it.
06:55I'm not going to do it.
06:56I'm not going to do it.
06:57I'm not going to do it.
06:58I went to the club, and they were like, oh, you get great talent.
07:01But I still, I used to run in Ethiopia.
07:03But it's not like I know I'm going to become Olympic champion or whatever.
07:07But I really love from my childhood.
07:09Now you're a six-time Olympic champion.
07:11After having won more Olympic medals than you could possibly dream of, what's next for Sifan Hasan?
07:17I'm so grateful.
07:19It is amazing success I had as an athlete.
07:22But my next is just, I'm just new for marathon.
07:26I just only did it for marathon.
07:28I just want to challenge myself to do the marathon.
07:31I want to see how fast I can run marathon.
07:33And every marathon for me is different.
07:35I have didn't see anything.
07:38It's always like scary.
07:40It's always challenging me.
07:41So I think maybe this marathon is like pain, and maybe I'm addicted to the pain also.
07:46You're addicted to the pain, and you're addicted to winning.
07:48You've got six Olympic medals.
07:50Thank you for joining us on the Dialogue, Sifan.
07:52Thank you so much.
07:53Thank you so much, and I'm happy to be with you guys.