In the aftermath of her victory over 1500m at the last IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham 11 days ago, Sifan Hassan looked ahead to this week’s double bill of finals in Zurich and Brussels.
“I have to talk to my coach to see what's next in my programme because I could run the 1500m at the finals or maybe the 5000m,” said Hassan, who was crowned European 5000m champion in Berlin.
They talked, they discussed - and the outcome? Hassan will run both in what could two of the most amazing performances of her season.
And that is saying something. It has already been a summer which will live long in the memory for this brilliant track star from the Netherlands, who is now as good over 1500m as she is over 5000m.
Hassan has one Diamond League crown to her name, from the shorter of the distances in 2015, but now she wants two more.
First comes the 5000m in Zurich tomorrow night and then the following evening it is all about the 1500m in Brussels. She will also run the in-between distance of 3000m at the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava on 8-9 September before making her half marathon debut in the Copenhagen Half Marathon on 16 September.
“I will be driving to Brussels through the night after my race tomorrow. We think it will take about five hours,' said Hassan on her immediate schedule, before making an important clarification. 'I won’t be driving myself! I will be driven…”
Only four athletes have won two Diamond League titles in the same season - and always in the sprints - and with it the chance to join an elite club.
Allyson Felix was the first to do so in 2010 in the 200m and 400m before her US teammate Carmelita Jeter in 2011 won the 100m and 200m. Two years later Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was victorious in the 100m and 200m before Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas last year won the 200m and 400m.
It is a big ask for any athlete and now this challenge lies ahead for Hassan. Of her nine major career medals, Hassan has won six in the 1500m and three in the 5000m. Of those nine, four have been gold.
Her first 5000m title is so fresh after her European glory in Berlin where she lifted the crown in 14:46.12 having broken the European record and national record with 14:22.34 in the Diamond League in Rabat in July.
The top five times in the world this year came in that race, with Hassan second to Kenya’s world champion Hellen Obiri, who won in 14:21.75. She will pose the biggest opposition to at the sold out Letzigrund Stadium.
The field will include Ethiopia’s world indoor 1500m and 3000m champion Genzebe Dibaba - who has not run much this summer and was only sixth in Rabat - while her fellow Ethiopians Letesenbet Gidey, who was third in that race in Rabat in 14:23.14, and Senbere Teferi, who was fourth in 14:23.33, cannot be ruled out.
After her triumph in Berlin, Hassan said: “My plan was to go in front on the last 800m for the final sprint. I did what my coach told me. Winning this gold medal is very pleasant. I have to get more experience in the 5000m, it is very special for me to improve on the 5000m.'
Will she be able to adopt the same tactics tomorrow? Just one of the fascinating prospects.
And then for Hassan, from Zurich to Brussels, with little time to warm down, and once more the chance to bank the Diamond League prize.
She has showed brilliant speed in the 1500m but will she have enough recovery time?
In the pursuit of the Diamond League Trophy in Brussels, she will face new European 1500m champion Laura Muir from Great Britain who won the Diamond League title in 2016 and American Shelby Houlihan, who triumphed in Eugene and beat Hassan in Lausanne.
It is some double task she has set herself but nothing seems to faze her at the best of times. The record books had better be ready.