FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Athletics - Women's Marathon - Paris, France - August 11, 2024. Sifan Hassan of Netherlands in action. Song Yanhua/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Two years after Sifan Hassan raced to a memorable London Marathon victory after stopping twice to stretch her hip in a remarkable debut at the distance, the Dutch multi-distance phenomenon is back this year and excited to see what she can do.
The 32-year-old, who went on to win the Olympic marathon in Paris in August, headlines the four Olympic and Paralympic marathon champions who are confirmed for the April 27 race.
"I never dreamed I was going to win the gold medal in London but suddenly (afterwards) my brain is thinking about Paris: I'm going to do the marathon there," Hassan told reporters on a video call.
"I was so scared of the marathon. Am I not going to finish? Is it going to hurt? Oh, my God, what's going to happen? Are people going to say that I made a big mistake? So, I didn't really enjoy that much the (2023) marathon in London. This time I really want to go and enjoy it."
Paris men's marathon champion Tamirat Tola will be looking for his first win in London at the fifth attempt, while Paralympic marathon gold medallists Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hug lead the women's and men's wheelchair fields.
Hassan unleashed her famous kick to win the Paris marathon, battling Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia before shaking her off down the final stretch to add gold to the two bronzes she won in the 5,000m and 10,000m earlier in the Games.
She then took what she called one of the longest breaks of her career, stepping away for almost four months to reconnect with family and friends.
"I was totally out of running, I really had a great, amazing recovery," she said. "I wanted to show my friends and family that I had been busy for my work, but you are guys important to me."
Despite already achieving so much in the sport, now, fully refreshed, Hassan has no plans to ease back.
"I have so much curiosity, I have so many goals in my head, I want to see what can I do," she said.
She is considering a shift to focus solely on the gruelling 42.195km race for a season sometime ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, with a target of running four major marathons that year.
She also believes the world marathon record is within reach -- despite Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich incredibly taking nearly two minutes off it at the Chicago Marathon in October, winning in 2:09:56.
"Her result is unbelievable," Hassan said. "No one thought a female would run that time, maybe in the future. She wasn't in Paris with us. Also, last time I think she ran 2:15 (Chepngetich ran 2:14.18 to win the 2022 Chicago Marathon).
"So, I look at back at it now, incredible, fantastic what she did," she said.
"It might be a matter of time. So if I train correctly, maybe take me two years to get there, first be in 2:11 shape, and then 2:10, and then run that time. But it is possible."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
