Not since Pheidippides ran to Athens has there been a more extraordinary marathon debut than the one made by Sifan Hassan on the streets of London as she defied injury – and nearly being taken out by a motorbike – to claim a shock victory.
It appeared the most ominous of omens that she was in tears beforehand at the thought of what lay in wait, having decided to eschew traditional marathon training.Her face etched in pain, the 30-year-old had slipped 28 seconds behind the leading pack with 11 miles to go and was close to pulling out before a remarkable recovery.The scale of his victory was evident in the fact that his nearest rival, his fellow Kenyan, Geoffrey Kamworor, was almost three minutes back in 2:04:23, with Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola in third, a further 36 seconds back.
