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In the ever-evolving landscape of track and field, there’s few rising stars who have captured the imagination and admiration of fans like Femke Bol. This is in part because the Dutch hurdler seems almost unbelievable in action – the adage about making the difficult look easy comes to mind. If that’s the mark of a true professional, it’s no surprise that Bol is one of the best in her field.
The 24-year-old became the second woman to break 51 seconds in the 400m hurdles on July 14 2024 at La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, claiming the third-fastest time in history. The win came just 12 days before the start of the Paris Olympic Games, where Bol will showdown with the current world-record holder in the event, Team USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, for gold. Bol, the 2022 and 2023 European Athlete of the Year, also holds the world record in the 400m short track (49.17), among a number of other accolades and medals. After finishing third at her Olympic debut in Tokyo, Bol is back and ready to strike gold, armed with significant growth throughout the past few years and her characteristic sense of poise.
In just a few years, Bol has made sure the world knows her name. Let’s take a look at her journey to get here.
Born in Amersfoort, Netherlands in 2000, Bol’s fluid running style had an unlikely start. After breaking her arm twice as a child, her doctor advised her to practice judo as a way to learn how to fall. At age 15, she began to focus on the 400m distance, and quickly started winning Dutch age-group competitions with the help of her coach Bram Peters. Bol won five national youth titles in the 400m between 2015 and 2017, and four junior titles in 2018 and 2019.
Beginning to compete internationally, Bol claimed her first national title in the indoor 400m at age 19. Later that year, she reached the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles at the Doha World Championships in Qatar, becoming the second-fastest European U20 woman in history. She also began training at the Dutch National Sports Center under Laurent Meuwly, with Peters as her assistant coach.
The pandemic marked a unique experience for young athletes bursting onto the scene – when quarantine measures hit, Bol was forced to train on forest paths and fields. Despite this, the 20-year-old broke the Dutch 400m hurdles record in her first race back in July 2020. She went undefeated in the 400m throughout 2021, breaking the Dutch record five times in six weeks, and lowered her national record-making hurdles time to 52.37 in Stockholm. Just in time for her Olympic debut.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Bol stepped onto the global stage with the poise and determination of a seasoned champion. With heavy rain and an electric atmosphere, she lined up for the 400m hurdles, which that year promised one of the most thrilling showdowns of the Games. Bol was up against a fiercely competitive field, including McLaughlin-Levrone, whose 51.90s finals run in the Trials had made her the first woman to run the race in less than 52 seconds.
Bol’s 52.03s performance secured a bronze medal and a new Dutch national record. Her time was not only a personal best but also the third-fastest in Olympic history at that point. The performance also made her the first Dutch woman to win an Olympic medal in the 400m hurdles, announcing her as a force to be reckoned with in coming years. Also during the Games, Bol helped the mixed 4x400m relay team set a national record in the final with her 49.74s split, and anchored the women’s 4x400m relay to Dutch records in the heat and final. Still, it was an end to her unbeaten run – Bol promised to be back.
Fast forward to the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, an event that exhibited Bol’s athleticism, but more importantly her resilience and poise.
After dominating the heats and semifinals with commanding performances, Bol entered the final of the 4x400m mixed relay with her team as a top contender for the gold. The race unfolded with intense competition, and Bol surged ahead, leading the pack as they approached the final stretch. But disaster struck as Bol crashed to the ground just meters from the finish line. The fall came just minutes after her teammate Sifan Hassan had also fallen with the finish line and gold at her fingertips.
But Bol had two more events, and this wouldn’t be the end of her championships. “I would like my revenge,” she told reporters, and in a spectacular 400m hurdles finals showing, Bol won the following event with a 51.70s time. “After the mixed [relay] I wanted to be good for myself, I knew I was strong [but] I wanted to prove to myself I was also mentally strong,” she said. The relay finals were just as dramatic: Bol surged from third place in the final 100m stretch, passing Great Britain’s Nicole Yeargin and Jamaica’s Stacey Ann Williams in almost the exact spot she had fallen.
Bol began her 2024 season by winning the 400m short track in Metz. On June 7, she anchored the Dutch team in the mixed 4x400m relay to a bronze medal at the European Championships in Rome, and five days later anchored the women’s 4x400m relay to her second gold and third medal of the championships. And, of course, her history-making performance on July 14.
Looking to Paris, Bol (50.95s) will face fierce competition with McLaughlin-Levrone (50.65s). The two have not raced each other in the 400m hurdles since the 2022 World Championship final in Eugene, and before that, the Tokyo Olympic final. “It’s great she’s there and it will always be exciting and always bring some nice nerves,” Bol said of McLaughlin-Levrone. “I hope it’s going to be a nice battle!”
After all, Bol is an anomaly, always in pursuit of her limits – enjoying even the lactic ones that most runners dread. The pain is a symbol to herself, and the challenge is everything. In her own words: “You can think that you can’t and then you can again.”
She’s been down before. Now, Bol’s ready to be at the top.
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