Ethiopian-born runner Sifan Hassan has recently garnered worldwide acclaim for wearing a hijab for the Olympics award ceremony in the Paris 2024 games. Fans believe that Hassan’s hijab is a symbolic protest against the French hijab ban for its own athletes during the matches.
Hassan rarely wears a hijab; however, she made a significant choice to wear one during Sunday night’s gold medal crowning ceremony. After that, people on social media praised her for supporting athletes and hijabis in France who face frequent discrimination for wearing religious coverings.
Sifan Hassan wearing her hijab to her gold medal crowning ceremony for the women’s marathon, after France banned females from wearing hijabs at the 2024 games. She is so powerful. What a woman! #Olympic2024 #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/iIJOFmYjDc
— Zack (@Zack3O12) August 11, 2024
Later, when Sifan shared some glimpses of the crowning ceremony on her Instagram, many wrote, “A perfect closure, show the world’s media that your hijab does not disturb world peace,” “Glory to all Muslim women around the world,” and many more.
Well, after all this, it’s no wonder Sifan is Muslim from her inner core. The faith that Sifan Hassan has in her Islam religion is even reflected in her Instagram bio, which reads, “Start with Bismillah. End with Alhamdulillah. Appreciate with SubhanAllah. Hope with Insha’Allah. & life will be blessed by Allah.”
In 2008, the Muslim athlete Sifan Hassan made a life-changing journey from Ethiopia to the Netherlands, seeking refuge and new opportunities!
Life has not been as easy for the gold-winning athlete since the very beginning. Sifan Hassan was born in Adama, Oromia, Ethiopia, and grew up in the rural area of Kersa, located in the Munesa district of the Arsi Zone in Oromia in 1993.
In 2008, at age 15, she left her home country and arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee. In a 2020 interview with the BBC, she mentioned how she was indirectly compelled to leave in 2007 when insurgency broke out in Oromia.
All in a week's work! 🤯
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 11, 2024
Sifan Hassan – you are incredible 👏#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/CA0c9ew6SL
Sifan also expressed her dissatisfaction with Ethiopian instability: “I don’t regret that I got out from that country and I don’t even want to go back again. It’s so painful. It hurts me when I think about it, it’s terrible.”
Well, the athlete is already a Dutch citizen, having received Dutch citizenship in 2013. An Ethiopian Muslim woman who was once an asylum-seeker is now a record-breaking Olympic champion. She has back-to-back records.
She is a gold medalist and has also won two bronzes in the 5000m and 10000m races in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now, with her sprinting skills and the courage to show her true self to the world, she has achieved another milestone as a person.
Additional Information
- Sifan Hassan was born in Adama, Ethiopia, on January 1, 1993. The 31-year-old Dutch athlete Sifan weighs 49 kg and is 1.7 m tall.
- She began her athletic career in 2011 and has earned six Olympic medals, three golds, and three bronzes.
- Regarding her personal life, Siffan Hassan has yet to marry and flaunt her love life in public.
