I’m clean, says 1,500m world champion Sifan Hassan

Oct 07, 2019 06:00 am

Dutch runner Sifan Hassan said she is willing to undergo daily drug testing to prove she is a clean athlete after completing a stunning World Championship double.

Just days after her coach Alberto Salazar was handed a four-year ban for doping offences, the Ethiopian-born athlete, 26, surged to her second gold medal of the championships in the 1,500 metres yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Hassan's blistering winning time of 3min 51.95sec was the sixth fastest in history, and sliced around seven seconds off the 16-year-old championship record. Kenya's Faith Kipyegon took silver (3:54.22), while Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay won the bronze (3:54.38).

Hassan, who had won the 10,000m victory earlier, said: "If they want to test me they can test me every single day. Every single day. I believe in clean sport, I'm always clean, I will always be clean."

US sprint legend Michael Johnson warned Hassan that she would have to live with suspicion, but she pointed out she had been delivering consistently throughout her career, which includes a World Indoor Championship gold medal in 2016. - AFP