Coach Tim Robery has tried to get Sivan Hasan in the best shape possible for the world championships in America, but whether that will lead to Eugene’s gold is also a mystery to him. “We always go for the highest that can be achieved which is gold, but we have to keep in mind that others are better,” says the US coach to the two-time Olympic champion.
Hassan competed in the 10,000m final at Hayward Field on Saturday night, the part of her world title defense. “I can only hope that her form is good enough to compete with the best for medals,” Robery said.
Hassan’s story is now well known. After the successful Olympics in Tokyo, where she won gold in the 5000 and 10,000 meters and bronze in the 1500 metres, the native Ethiopian had just finished running. She was mentally and physically exhausted and needed a long rest and vacation.
Hassan went to Turkey, visited her native Ethiopia, and celebrated Ramadan in Mecca for the first time in her life. “I’m so glad I went there,” she says. “It wasn’t planned at all, a week before I decided to go and fasted there for a whole month. Then I did my shopping for another two days. It was perfect. The place is great with so many people from different countries and cultures.”
Even the athlete, who has already won seventeen medals in major international tournaments, did not think of running any competitions for the whole of 2022 and thus skipping the World Cup as well. “In recent years, I’ve trained hard and pushed myself to the limit. I can’t go on like this every year, and then burn out. You have to be smart if you want a long career.”
In the end, I decided to resume training only ten weeks before the final world battle. “I’m not as good as last year at the Tokyo Games because I know where I come from. But I feel good now and I will definitely try to get a medal. If others are really faster than me, I can do it this time.” Be content with silver or bronze.
It was also not clear to her coach whether Hassan would participate in the World Cup. “I had long conversations with her and pointed out the pros and cons, including keeping the Paris Olympics in mind. At least I knew she had a good reason to skip the World Cup,” Robery says. “We will see how it goes, it also depends on what kind of race it will be. Sevan has only ran the 5,000m in preparation, but the main objective of that was to act as a catalyst for the competition. Her first race of the season is always tough, but she has proven in many Sometimes she can suddenly show tremendous progress after a difficult start.”
