Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan is set to skip this year’s world athletics championships to focus her efforts on the Sydney Marathon on August 31.

Hassan, 32, has not ruled out competing in the championships, which start in Tokyo two weeks later, but her management team told nu.nl the event did not currently feature in her plans.

It would be the first time since 2013 that Hassan has not represented the Netherlands at the world championships, where she has won two gold, a silver and three bronze medals in five appearances.

The highlight was in 2019 in Doha, where she won a historic double of 1,500 metres and 10,000 metres. Hassan is also a triple Olympic champion, having won the marathon in Paris last summer to add to her gold medals at 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres from Tokyo in 2021.

She is currently the third fastest woman of all time over the marathon distance with a best time of 2 hours 13 minutes 44 seconds – nearly four minutes behind the world record held by Kenya’s Ruth Chepng’etich.