Sifan Hassan: Olympian receives gold medal in hijab during Paris 2024

Netherlands’s Olympian Sifan Hassan sent a powerful message when she donned a hijab while accepting her gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The Dutch runner won the gold for completing the 42.5-kilometer Olympic Marathon in a record time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, and 55 seconds, US media outlets reported.

Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa crossed the finish line three seconds later to win silver while Hellen Obiri of Kenya finished in 2:23:10 to win bronze.

It is pertinent to mention that Sifan Hassan had already won bronze in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Hassan became the only athlete to win medals in all three long-distance events at the same Olympic Games.

Following her triumph, she stated: “I feel like I am dreaming… At the end I thought, ‘This is just a 100m sprint. Come on, Sifan. One more. Just feel it, like someone who sprints 200m.’”

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While several praised her determination and athletic display at the Paris 2024, she sent a powerful message by wearing a hijab while receiving her gold medal for the Olympic Marathon.

Sifan Hassan donned a bright orange tracksuit and a maroon hijab which moved the supporters and audience in Paris, the capital of France which restricted its athletes from competing in the Olympics with head coverings.

Last year, French Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera said that the government prohibited the show of religious symbols at athletic events “in accordance with the nation’s secularism principle and regulations”.

Later, the country’s sports ministry said that athletes will be allowed to wear hijabs in public and in the Olympic village.