The End of Uncertainty for Sivan Hassan: A Visa to the United States Finally in | Other sports

Written by Bim Bell

At the embassy in Kenya this morning a weight fell on her shoulders. She will continue to train at Itten for another month, before finally returning to the United States with her passport and work visa, where she has been very satisfied with her training environment since 2016, but was not allowed to be present last year.

This finally put an end to the long and drawn-out for the athlete who is extremely frustrated and uncertain. When it wanted to renew an expired work visa for the United States in Ethiopia last year, the embassy was closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Then its management tried to reschedule in different countries. However, this has turned out to be particularly difficult due to the epidemic. Training at Nike’s campus in Oregon became impossible and the 28-year-old started worrying about her Olympiad preparations.

Out of necessity, Hasan initially spent a lot of time last year in her home country of Ethiopia and then in the Netherlands, often training without her regular coach and Tim Robbie, who is based in America. “Now that I can’t be there, I always have to get used to a new place,” Hassan said in a conversation with this site last month, shortly before I left for Tenerife. This is human, but it costs energy. The focus on the Olympics is over, because I don’t know where I’m standing. “

During her stay in Tenerife, a set date in Amsterdam was canceled. Hassan headed recklessly to Kenya, where a hatch was found. Later, it turned out that her request was a formality, something that she began to suspect due to all the fruitless attempts. Now completing her coaching period in Iten, Kenya, then basing and posing in her familiar environment until her first game of the season. In the Olympics, it was the Netherlands’ biggest chance to win the athletics gold medal, given its preferred role in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.