SYDNEY: Olympic champion Sifan Hassan has confirmed her decision to skip the athletics world championships in Tokyo next month after deciding to take part in this weekend’s Sydney marathon.

Hassan, who won the Olympic marathon in Paris last year, has represented the Netherlands at every world championships since 2015, winning six medals including her 1,500-10,000 metres golden double in Doha in 2019.

“It’s in two or three weeks and I don’t think I’m going to recover, I can barely walk the first couple of days after a marathon,” the 32-year-old told a news conference on Thursday.

“It was so hard a decision for me because … since 2015 … I have never skipped any world championships and also it’s in Tokyo, and I have great memories of winning two golds and one bronze at the Olympics there.”

The Sydney marathon, which takes place on Sunday, has joined London, New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and Berlin as part of the elite marathon majors series for the first time this year.

“I really want to be part of Sydney marathon, because it’s part of the major marathons,” Hassan added.

“I really thought about it, I really thought about what to do, but my heart really wanted to be [here]. This one looks for me more exciting.” The world cham­p­ionships take place from Sept 13 to 21 at Tokyo’s National Stadium, where Hassan won the 5,000-10,000 double and a bronze in the 1,500 at the Olympics four years ago.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025