Helene Elliott: Women at the Tokyo Olympics win big and prove there’s infinite beauty in sweat

TOKYO — Before the women’s marathon was added to the program at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the longest race for female runners was the 1,500 meters — and that became part of the Summer Games only in 1972. Delicate flowers couldn’t be expected to run long distances without doing unspecified but implied grievous harm to themselves or — heaven forbid — become sweaty.

During the Tokyo Olympics, which concluded Sunday, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won gold medals in the punishing 5,000- and 10,000-meter races and bronze in the 1,500 meters. The longest race was her last, and she won it by outkicking two rivals in the last 100