A double gold-winning runner who took on one of the most brutal schedules in Olympic history said she was willing to 'die' on track to win

• Dutch runner Sifan Hassan took on one of the most punishing schedules imaginable at Tokyo 2020.
• Hassan ran the 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters, and 10,000 meters over the course of just eight days.

A Dutch long distance runner who took on one of the most brutal schedules in Olympic history said she was willing to "die" to win her two gold medals in Tokyo.

Sifan Hassan competed in all three of the marquee long distance track events at the Tokyo Olympics — the 1500 meters, 5,000 meters, and 10,000 meters — over the space of just eight days at last summer's games.

She won gold in the latter two and secured bronze in the former, becoming the only athlete in history to medal in all three events at the same Olympics.

Speaking to the BBC World Service Hassan said that the night before her final event, the 10,000 meters, she thought to herself: "I will die tomorrow."

Hassan didn't die, instead winning gold in the event to add to the gold in the 5,000 meters and bronze in the 1,500 she had won earlier in the games.

"Honestly, at that moment, I was just so happy to survive," Hassan said of her emotions after the final race of her Tokyo trio.

"I was really in pain, I was suffering so much, I was sweating very, very, very hard, all my face was burning, my hand was burning, all my body was burning. I felt I had no water inside me.

"I thought I was going to pass out. In that moment I didn't mind about gold, I just wanted to be alive and healthy."

Monday, August 2 was an especially grueling day for Hassan in Tokyo.

Competing in her 1,500 meter heat in the morning, the 29-year-old tripped at the start of her final lap, but somehow managed to scramble back to her feet to overtake the pack and win. That evening, she then returned to the Olympic Stadium to clinch 5,000 meter gold.

Two days later, Hassan was unable to secure gold in the 1,500 final, finishing third behind Britain's Laura Muir and Kenyan winner Faith Kipyego.

Defeat did not deter her, however. Instead, she returned to the track the next evening to win her second gold of the games in the 10,000 meters.

"When I lost, at the time, I was so mad," she said. "At the medal ceremony, when I went back to my room I knew there was something inside me. That was when I decided: I will die tomorrow, I will go to the end."

Asked about the prospect of competing in three events at another major championship, Hassan said: "God willing, but I don't think it will be as hard as in Tokyo, because I have done it.

"Even if another athlete had done it, it is going to be much easier because we know it is possible. Something is always more difficult when we don't know before."