Sifan Hassan received widespread praise for wearing a hijab during the 2024 Olympics’ final medal ceremony in Paris — poignant given France is openly hostile towards hijab and what Muslim women wear.
The critical point was when the whole world turned to the closing ceremony. To most people, especially those who have been following her move, Hassan’s move to cover her head as well as contest the prejudices and discriminations that characterize France, the largest holder of the Muslims in the European Union, and the majority of its national sporting federations’ bans on hijab was one against the odds.
County’s Hassan took the women’s marathon on Sunday with an Olympic record of 2:22:55. She had other bronzes in the 5000-meter and 10000-meter races besides the one from the heptathlon. She was absolutely on a roll by becoming the first athlete in the past forty years to be featured in all three long-distance races of the games.
Thousands of people, fans and critics, unleashed their reactions to Hassan’s decision to wear the hijab during the last medal ceremony of the Paris Olympics on social networks. As I saw it, some considered it a rebellion and shared their disapproval of the French law against wearing hijabs in sports.
The Twitter user @vvvmiserable, who is also full of praise, wrote, “Sifan Hassan in hijab at the closing ceremony as she receives the gold for winning the women’s marathon in France, where they’ve prohibited the wearing of hijab, my queen.”
Another account, @SHEscoresbanger, highlighted the irony: ‘Stay strong Louvre, the last Olympic athlete to be awarded a gold medal I was awarded to Sifan Hassan. Wearing her hijab – a hijab that she was allowed to wear while on the podium – at a games where the host nation forbids its own hijabi athletes from competing. ’
Human rights advocate Steve Cockburn also pointed out the contradiction: >The last and final gold medal of #Paris2024 goes to the incredible Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who won the women’s marathon race. The sad truth is that if she were a citizen of France, she would be prohibited from wearing a hijab on any such occasion.
Another user, @yungaims, celebrated the moment as a blend of art and activism: Sifan Hassan collected her gold medal, putting on a hijab in the face of those who prohibited the use of the veil in sports in France The world is a work of art The art is a lie Sultan Amir Khusro Lovers art and poetry.
The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics was brought to a crescendo, most emblematically so Hassan’s act thus, as @yungaims observed, “How poetic and beautifully apt that the final person to take to the podium at the Closing Ceremony of the Paris Olympics is Sifan Hassan – in a hijab. A powerful visual after French Olympic athletes were forbidden from wearing hijabs at the Games. ”
Hassan chose to wear his cap in more than a fashion statement; he asserted himself against emerging cultural conflict and remained loyal to himself, an essential message for millions globally who fight for themselves.
