Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won Olympic women's marathon gold in Paris on Sunday in a thrilling sprint finish.

Hassan traded elbows with Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia with 150 metres left, then passed her along the railing to win the race for her third distance medal of the Paris Games.

Hassan finished in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 55 seconds.

She also won bronze in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Assefa finished 3 seconds behind Hassan to win silver.

Kenya’s Hellen Obiri took the bronze.

Ethiopian-born Hassan lingered behind the leaders for the bulk of the race before summoning up the energy for a late-race kick that will go down as one of the best the sport has seen.

The race had been impossible to call with all the favourites among a leading pack up until the last 10km.

Three runners from China took part.

Zhang Deshun finished 59th in a time of 2:36.47.

Xia Yuyu was 72nd and Bai Li 76th.

Breaking from tradition, the women’s Olympic marathon was held on the final day instead of the men’s race. (Agencies)