Tokyo (AFP)

Launched in the quest of an insane triplet 1500m-5000m-10.000m, the Dutchman Sifan Hassan succeeded the first stage of her incredible bet by being crowned Olympic champion of 5000m, Monday in Tokyo.

Will this first Olympic title call for others?

The Hassan soap opera has not finished holding on during these Olympics as the company seems crazy and improbable.

But nothing seems to be able to stop the 28-year-old runner for the moment.

Neither the Kenyan colony led by Helen Obiri, nor the Ethiopians and their leader Gudaf Tsegay, nor even the somewhat soggy track after the huge downpours spilled shortly before the start of the race got the better of Hassan's insolent superiority, who disgusted all her rivals in a final round swallowed like a rocket.

The Dutch finally won in 14 min 36 sec 79 in front of Obiri, double world champion in the distance but unable to keep up with the hellish pace set by the Dutch in the last meters (14 min 38 sec 36).

- Hell program -

Hassan was not, however, his first feat of arms of the day.

The world gold medalist over 1500 m and 10,000 m in 2019 had in the morning achieved the feat of winning her 1500 m series despite a big fall in the last lap.

Falling heavily on the track and far behind, she immediately got up to overtake all her opponents one by one before crossing the line as the winner (4:05:17).

A demonstration that did not prevent her from reigning a few hours later on the 5000 m.

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With this first victory in his pocket, the indefatigable Hassan will have just a day to breathe before continuing with the semi-finals of the 1500 m on Wednesday.

In case of qualification, she will have to return to the track of the Olympic stadium for the final scheduled for Friday before that of the 10,000m the next day.

A hellish program which, if successful, would only rekindle doubts and suspicions around the Ethiopian-born runner whose sulphurous mentor, American trainer Alberto Salazar, was suspended for four years for "incitement to doping "in 2019. Even if she has never been involved in a case.

- Disillusionment for Echevarria -

Far from controversy, Morocco has finally found a successor to King Hicham El Guerrouj.

The country had been waiting for an Olympic champion for 17 years and it was Soufiane El Bakkali who put an end to this long scarcity by winning without discussion the 3000 m steeplechase (8 min 08 sec 90).

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In the morning, the length final was much more eventful and ended on the last try.

The Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarria, who thought he had done the hardest with a jump to 8.41 m, had his hair cut in extremis by the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou, author of a similar leap but ultimately victorious for the benefit of his second best attempt (8.15 m against 8.09 m for Echevarria).

This is a big disappointment for Echevarria, a great hope of the discipline (22 years old), who has not yet won a title in a major outdoor championship.

The 100m hurdles were less epic with the announced success of the Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12 sec 36), 24 hours after having signed in the semifinals the sixth performance in history (12 sec 26), at six hundredths of the world record for American Kendra Harrison, who finished second.

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At the end of the evening and after a one hour hiatus to allow heavy downpours to pass, the American Valarie Allman won, thanks to her first try, her first international title to succeed the Croatian Sandra Perkovic, fourth.

© 2021 AFP