Sifan Hassan was voted the best athlete in the world in 2024 at the World Athletics global federation’s awards gala in Monaco.
The Olympic marathon champion is the first Dutch athlete to receive this honour.
The 31-year-old Hassan also won the title in the so-called ‘out of stadium’ category, or the competitions on the road.
At the Games in Paris, Hassan was the first woman ever to combine the 5,000 and 10,000 metres with the marathon. She won bronze in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres.
There was one day of rest between the latter distance and the marathon, but Hassan still managed to run to gold in the 42.195 kilometres.
She defeated Ethiopian Tigist Assefa in a breathtaking final sprint.
Hassan has been nominated for the honorary title several times in her career, including in 2019 and 2021.
The Dutch athlete of Ethiopian descent won two world titles in 2019 (1500 meters and 10,000 meters) and in 2021 she was the queen of the Games in Tokyo with Olympic gold in the 5000 and 10,000 meters and bronze in the 1500 meters.
Hassan was the first athlete to combine these three distances at a championship.
