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Hassan, Allman win gold as Hubbard makes Olympic history

Tokyo, Aug 2 (EFE).- Sifan Hassan stormed to victory in the women’s 5,000 meters final on Monday to bag the first of three gold medals she has her sights set on in Tokyo.

Hassan timed her surge to the front of the pack impeccably, seizing her moment on the final lap to fly past Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, who finished in second and third respectively.

After winning the 1,500 and 10,000 world titles two years ago in Doha, the Dutch woman is targeting an unprecedented Olympic hat-trick in Tokyo, although she will have to run six races in nine days to manage the historic feat.

The long-distance runner, who arrived in the Netherlands at the age of 15 as a refugee from Ethiopia, holds four world records in distances between the mile and the 10,000 meters: mile (4:12.33), 5 km road (14:44), 10,000 (29:06.82) and the hour (18,930 meters).

She also holds the European records in the 1,500 meters (3:51.95), 3,000 meters (8:18.49), 5,000 meters (14:22.12) and half marathon (1h05:15)

In the discus, Valarie Allman of the United States won the gold medal with a throw of 68.98 meters on her first attempt, before rain interrupted the women’s final for more than an hour.

The American champion had already been the best in the qualifying round with 66.42m and is one of two to have broken the 70m barrier this year. The other, Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands, had not made it to the final.

Allman could not improve her performance after the rain delay. She made only two more valid throws, but her first mark was enough to beat Germany’s Kristin Pudenz, who set a personal best with 68.86 meters, and Cuba’s Yaimé Pérez, world champion, who threw 65.72 meters.

After winning in London 2012 and Rio 2016, Croatian Sandra Perkovic arrived in Tokyo 2020 hoping to become the first woman with three Olympic golds in a single discipline, a goal that neither Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the 100 meters nor New Zealand’s Valery Adams in the shot put achieved, after both finished as runners-up.

She didn’t make it either. She did not even make the podium, relegated to fourth place with a score of 65.01.

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