Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan wins gold in the women's 5,000m final at the Tokyo Olympics

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won gold in the 5000m women's finals at the Tokyo Olympics in 14:36.79. Ethiopian- born Hassan moved to the Netherlands as a refugee and has competed for the Netherlands. She has now won the first gold in an athletics event for the Netherlands at the Tokyo Olympics.

Sifan Hassan wins her first Olympic medal in the women’s 5000m and it’s #gold!It's also #NED's first gold medal in #athletics since 1992!#StrongerTogether | @WorldAthletics pic.twitter.com/HodhyVUbkG

— Olympics (@Olympics) August 2, 2021

Hassan's victory at the Tokyo Olympics broke the stronghold of Kenya and Ethiopia over the distance running events, especially at the Olympics. She won in commanding fashion, biding her time in the middle of the pack till the last few laps when she moved up to the front.

Before the Tokyo Olympics, Ethiopian women had won three of the last six gold medals in the 5000m event. Unlike in the men's competition, women have run the 5000m at the Olympics only since 1996.

While Hassan was among the favorites at the Tokyo Olympics, having been in terrific form in the last year, she wasn't tipped for gold. Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya were both expected to perform better than Hassan. She has also had her records broken by different Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes in 2021, so the rivalry is fierce.

Sifan Hassan is looking to complete a trilogy of wins at the Tokyo Olympics by running in the 1500m, 5000m and 10000m events. She already has one of three possible gold medals now.

The Tokyo Olympics is her second visit to the competition but she did not finish on the podium in her events at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

This victory at the Tokyo Olympics may provide some redemption for Hassan, who has not always had the respect of her rivals, thanks to her past association with the now-banned coach, Alberto Salazar. It was perhaps evident when none of her Ethiopian or Kenyan rivals rushed to congratulate her on her victory at the Tokyo Olympics.

Kenyan Hellen Obiri, who won silver in the 5000m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, had to settle for silver again at the Tokyo Olympics. She was 2nd in 14:38.36. When Hassan made her move with less than half a lap to go, Obiri gave chase but couldn't respond to Hassan's kick.

Gudaf Tsegay, who was arguably the favorite for gold and won the Ethiopian Olympic trials in spectacular fashion, had an underwhelming performance given her recent form. While her bronze medal in 14:38.87 at the Olympics is an amazing achievement by itself, Tsegay will be left wondering what could have been.

Overall, the 5000m women's final at the Tokyo Olympics highlighted the fierce competition in athletics. The coming week, with the 1500m and 10000m events in store, should provide more interesting performances to fans of athletics.