Sifan Hassan completed her mission impossible with a gruelling women's marathon win on the sun-baked streets of Paris Sunday as Tom Cruise is rumoured to give the Olympic Games a Hollywood ending.

On the final day of what has been seen as a spectacular Games, the race to top the medals table was coming down to the final event, with China and the United States grappling for dominance.

Dutchwoman Hassan had taken on what many considered to be a crazy gamble, competing in the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the marathon -- the last two events just two days apart.

But in a thrilling sprint finish, Hassan overhauled Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa to take gold by three seconds in an Olympic record of 2hr 22min 55sec.

On Friday she had taken bronze in the 10,000m in the Stade de France after coming away with a bronze in the 5,000m.

She fell to the ground on the blue carpet in front of the golden dome of the Invalides memorial complex in the heart of Paris before grabbing a Dutch flag to celebrate an extraordinary achievement.

"It was........

© International Business Times