Dutch runner Sifan Hassan trying to win the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon in Paris

Dutch runner Sifan Hassan trying to win the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon in Paris. ‘It is very hard.’

1 of 2 |

FILE - Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women’s 5,000-meters final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

2 of 2 |

FILE - Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, wins the women’s 10,000-meter run final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

PARIS (AP) — Attempting to defend her 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles at the Olympics isn’t enough for Ethiopian-born Dutch runner Sifan Hassan. She also will push herself in the ultimate test of endurance, adding the marathon to her program at the Paris Games.

“I can’t tell you I’m going to get the gold medal in every event,” Hassan said Wednesday. “It is very hard.”

Hassan’s program will look like this:

The 5,000 heats on Friday and the final on Monday.

The 10,000 on Friday, Aug. 9.

The marathon on Sunday, Aug. 11.

In all, she’ll compete over a whopping 62 kilometers (38.6 miles) — nearly far enough to run from Paris to Versailles and back twice. And she’ll have roughly only 35 hours between the end of the 10,000 and the marathon.

“I’m curious what is going to happen,” Hassan said. “My biggest goal is to finish the event(s). And how I’m going to recover.”

Hassan could have run a fourth event, having earned bronze in the 1,500 in Tokyo.

But now she can match Emil Zatopek’s exploit from 1952, when the Czech runner swept the 5,000, 10,000 and the marathon at the Helsinki Games.

When Hassan started winning multiple events earlier in her career, she learned about Zatopek and watched a film about him.

“I started studying and was really inspired, became a big fan of him,” she said. “I watched two times this movie. … I really never thought I would become like him. … He’s an (inspiration).”

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

1 of 7 |

FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

2 of 7 |

FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

3 of 7 |

FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

4 of 7 |

Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

5 of 7 |

USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

6 of 7 |

Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

7 of 7 |

FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)