London Marathon 2025: Sifan Hassan among reigning Olympic and Paralympic champions confirmed

Sifan Hassan will return to the London Marathon in 2025, where four current Olympic and Paralympic marathon champions will gather on the course in the British capital. The Dutch athlete, who has made history in her career by becoming the first woman to win gold medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and marathon at the Olympics, won the 26.2-mile marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hassan, 32, made a stunning comeback to win the London Marathon in her debut at the distance in 2023. In the same year, she also won the Chicago Marathon. "It feels very special to come back to the London Marathon. It’s where I ran my first marathon and where I started my journey in this incredible distance," said Hassan.

Hassan also stated, "London is also where I learned to be patient, trust myself, and keep going when things feel impossible. It’s a place where I’ve grown, not just as an athlete but as a person." In addition to Hassan, Ethiopia's Olympic men's champion Tamirat Tola, as well as Paralympic champions Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hug, will also participate in the London Marathon. The 2025 London Marathon will be held on Sunday, April 27.

Two years ago, the inexperienced Hassan appeared to be out of the race in her marathon debut, forced to stop and stretch on the side of the road due to a hip injury mid-race, while her competitors disappeared ahead. However, she caught up with Tokyo Olympic marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir and 2022 London Marathon champion Yalemzerf Yehualaw, ultimately sprinting to victory, but nearly colliding with a support motorcycle. Hassan achieved an equally dramatic Olympic victory last summer.

Having already secured bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m on the track (she won gold in both events at the Tokyo Olympics), she seemed to fade in the marathon but recovered to stage another remarkable sprint. Hassan said, "I don’t think I’m the greatest because if I think that, I won’t improve." Speaking about her future ambitions, she added, "I want to try running four marathons a year and see how far I can go. Maybe closer to Los Angeles, I want to see how I cope with [that]."

"I also want to run personal bests on the track. I have a lot of ideas in my head, I'm really crazy," she continued, "Many athletes are good at one thing, but they don’t want to step out of their comfort zone. No one is perfect, and I just want to try everything and see where I can get to." Tola, 33, will hope to achieve victory in London on his fifth attempt, having achieved his best result of third place in the men's race two years ago.

Like Hassan, Tola also set an Olympic record in Paris, but the 2022 world champion won gold by a dominant margin on a challenging course, crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 26 seconds. Swiss Paralympian Hug, who won his third Paralympic marathon title in September, will strive for his seventh victory at the London Marathon and his fifth consecutive men's wheelchair title. The 38-year-old, who is the course record holder with a time of 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 44 seconds, won for the fourth consecutive year in 2024, moving closer to British athlete David Weir's record of eight victories in London.

Compatriot Debrunner set the women's wheelchair course record when she first won in 2022, with a time of 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 24 seconds, before winning again last year. The 29-year-old world record holder won five gold medals at the Paralympics last summer, achieving victories in the 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, and marathon events.