Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the gold medal in the Olympic women’s marathon on Sunday in Paris. Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press

PARIS — Nobody will ever accuse Sifan Hassan of taking the easy route at the Olympics.

Heading into the last 150 meters of her 10-day Olympics odyssey that spanned three events and 38 miles, the Netherlands’ runner traded elbows with Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, and then sprinted by her to win the last track event of the Paris Games.

Hassan added gold to the bronze medals she won in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

“I feel like I am dreaming. At the end, I thought, ‘This is just a 100-meter sprint. Come on, Sifan. One more. Just feel it,’ ” Hassan said. “Every step I challenged myself, and now I am so grateful.”

Hassan raised her hands and yelled as she crossed the line, before wrapping the Dutch flag around her head. Then, taking in the enormity of her win, Hassan plunged her head in her hands and appeared to weep with joy.

The finish had everything: suspense, speed, grit and feistiness, all against the stunning backdrop of a golden dome glittering under the morning sun.

Hassan, an Ethiopia native, finished in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 55 seconds. Assefa won silver, three seconds behind, and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri took the bronze.

The Ethiopian team lodged a protest to have Hassan disqualified for obstruction, but it was rejected by the Jury of Appeal. It looked as if Assefa was blocking Hassan before they traded elbows.

Hassan did not attend the post-race news conference, where Assefa said she would have won if Hassan hadn’t impeded her.

“I didn’t expect at that moment it would happen. Maybe at that moment, if she didn’t push me I would have the gold,” Assefa said through a translator. “But anyway, I’m so happy for her that she gets the gold medal.”

Assefa declined to specify if she asked for the protest or if it was the Ethiopian team on its own.

“I can’t say anything, but she is a good athlete,” Assefa replied.

By simply completing the marathon, the 31-year-old Hassan ran more than 38 miles. She now has six Olympic medals. In Tokyo, Hassan won the 5,000 and 10,000 and finished third in the 1,500.

“She has shown the world that she can do everything,” Obiri said. “People say it’s impossible, but she’s done it. So I say ‘Big up’ for her.”

Obiri had tried to up the pace earlier, knowing she couldn’t take Hassan in a sprint.

“She is so strong,” Obiri said. “No way we could break her.”

Breaking from tradition, the women’s marathon was held on the final day of the Olympics instead of the men’s race.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL:  Monica De Gennaro of Italy made three previous trips to the Olympics only to leave empty-handed each time.

Finally, at age 37, she’s going home with the gold.

Italy beat the defending champion U.S. team to win gold in women’s volleyball at the Paris Olympics.

“It feels special,” she said. “It’s the dream of every player to play in the final of the Olympics and win it. It is something unique. We worked so hard for so many years to be able to reach this final.”

When Italy scored the match point to end it, many of the players collapsed to the court, then began hugging in a huge scrum. Together they tossed De Gennaro into the air.

The victory came in straight sets, 25-18, 25-20, 25-17. The Italians ended a dominant tournament having lost just one set.

It’s the first medal in the sport for top-ranked Italy and sends the Americans home in disappointment after they won their first Olympic title in Tokyo. It’s a huge win for the Italians, whose previous best Olympic finish was fifth.

MEN’S WATER POLO: Milos Cuk scored three times and Serbia beat Croatia 13-11 on Sunday for its third consecutive gold medal in men’s water polo at the Olympics.

Nikola Dedovic and Nikola Jaksic each had two goals as Serbia used a balanced attack to earn its third consecutive win since its shaky start in the preliminary round of the Paris Games. Radoslav Filipovic made 10 saves.

The United States beat Hungary 11-8 in the bronze-medal match. It’s the first medal for the U.S. men since the team lost to Hungary in the final of the 2008 Olympics.

CYLING: Jennifer Valente rolled around the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines one last time with the American flag held aloft, a dominant defense of her Olympic omnium title giving her a second gold medal in a span of four days.

The Stars and Stripes flew often after cycling events at the Paris Games.

The Americans won three gold medals and six in all for their best showing at the Olympics in four decades, and Valente capped everything off in style. The 29-year-old from San Diego finished with 144 points in the final event of the cycling program, well ahead of Daria Pikulik of Poland and Ally Wollaston of New Zealand, who rounded out the omnium podium.

“It’s been a really long week of racing,” Valente said. “I raced (team pursuit) qualifying over a week ago, and we had some really good performances, so to pull it off on the last day, I’m really excited.”