Sifan Hassan went from refugee to six-time Olympic medallist

euronews (in English)

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.

06:33But when I come to the Netherlands, it is winter, every door is closed.

06:36I'm a very outdoor person.

06:38I really get depressed, I get sad.

06:40So I asked them to do sports, and every sport was like, you have to pay money.

06:45I was young, I didn't have that much money.

06:47And they told me, oh, run.

06:49It doesn't have cost.

06:51You don't have to pay money.

06:53I was like, oh, I love running.

06:55And I went to the club, and they were like, oh, you get great talent.

06:59But I still, I used to run in Ethiopia, but it's not like I know I'm going to become Olympic champion or whatever.

07:05But I really love from my childhood.

07:07Now you're a six-time Olympic champion.

07:09After having won more Olympic medals than you could possibly dream of, what's next for Sifan Hasan?

07:14I'm so grateful.

07:16It's this amazing success I had as an athlete.

07:19But my next is just, I'm just new for marathon.

07:23I just only did it for four months.

07:25I just want to challenge myself to do the marathon.

07:27I want to see how fast I can run marathon.

07:30And every marathon for me is different.

07:32I have, didn't see anything.

07:34It's always like scary.

07:36It's always challenging me.

07:38So I think maybe I'm, this marathon is like pain, and maybe I'm addicted to the pain also.

07:43You're addicted to the pain, and you're addicted to winning.

07:45You've got six Olympic medals.

07:47Thank you for joining us on The Dialogue, Sifan.

07:49Thank you so much, and I'm happy to be here.

07:52Thank you so much, and I'm happy to be with you guys.

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