Netherlands Runner Sifan Hassan Breaks Women's Mile Record In Race Dedicated To Gabe Grunewald
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Sifan Hassan, a distance runner from the Netherlands, broke the women's mile record on Friday with a time of four minutes 12.33 seconds. The record was previously set by Russia's Svetlana Masterkova in Zurich in 1996 who clocked a time of four minutes 12.56 seconds.
The race at the Diamond League's Herculis Meeting in Monaco was dedicated to American runner Gabe Grunewald, who died of cancer in June at just 32 years old. She was honored with a tribute to her on the screens before the race, which was named "Brave like Gabe".
Hissan said she did not expect to be a world record holder after the race, "I knew I could run fast, but the first 800 was a bit slow, so after that I wasn't thinking it would be a world record."