TOKYO – For most everyone, falling on the final lap of a 1500-meter race would be certain disaster.
For Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, it appeared to be just a minor inconvenience.
Hassan overcame a fall at the start of her last lap to win her 1500-meter preliminary race Monday – tripping over another runner who had fallen in front of her, leaping back to her feet and running the final 300 in a blistering 43.7 seconds. And it might not even wind up being the most impressive achievement of her day.
Hassan is entered in the 1500, 5000 and 10,000 at the Tokyo Olympics, an attempt to pull of what would be an incredible triple. And Monday will likely be the most challenging day of her schedule. After Monday's 1500-meter run, she will be back in less than 12 hours to run the 5,000-meter final, with a medal on the line.
TOKYO – The American beach volleyball team of April Ross and Alix Klineman might be in position to do more than win a gold medal at the Tokyo Games.
Surely they’re capable of setting an unofficial record for hugs – that is, if they haven’t already broken the record.
Ross and Klineman hug after every point, so on Monday that was 74 hugs in their 21-17, 21-15 victory over Cuba’s Lidianny Echevarria Benitez and Leila Consuelo Martinez in the round of 16 at Shiokaze Park.