Athletes from Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest state, set world records in both the men’s and women’s marathons at the Paris Olympics.
Sifan Hassan, originally from Adama, Oromia’s second-largest city, won the gold medal in the women’s marathon for the Netherlands, setting a world record with a time of 2:22:55.
She broke the previous record of 2:23:07 set by Tiki Gelana at the 2012 London Games. Tigest Assefa, another athlete from Oromia, finished just behind Hassan with a time of 2:22:58. Kenya’s Helen Obiri was third with 2:23:10.
Hassan’s marathon victory came just 37 hours after she won bronze in the 10,000 meters and six days after winning another bronze in the 5,000 meters.
The 31-year-old is the first woman to win Olympic medals in all three distances. No athlete has attempted three distances in 40 years. The only other runner to medal in three races is Emil Zátopek, who won gold in each at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
In the men’s marathon, Tamrat Tola, also from Oromia, set an Olympic record with a winning time of 2:06:26 yesterday.
Along with Berihu Aregawi’s and Tsige Duguma’s silver medals in the men’s 10,000 meters and women’s 800 meters, respectively, Ethiopia’s performance in Paris was lackluster with a total of four medals.