Femke Bol

Dutch hurdler and sprinter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Femke Bol

Femke Bol (pronounced [ˈfɛmkə ˈbɔl] ; born 23 February 2000) is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the 2024 World Indoor Champion and the short track world record holder. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.

Quick Facts Personal information, Born ...
Femke Bol
Photo of Femke Bol with a flag draped over her shoulders and holding a gold medal
Bol with her gold 400 m hurdles medal at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest
Personal information
Born (2000-02-23) 23 February 2000 (age 25)
Amersfoort, Netherlands
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event(s)200 m, 400 m, 400 m hurdles, 4 × 400 m relay
ClubAV Altis[2]
Turned pro2019[3]
Coached by
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking
  • No. 1 (400 mH, 2021)
  • No. 2 (overall, 2023)
  • No. 3 (400 m, 2023)
  • No. 40 (200 m, 2024)
Personal bests
  • Long track[a]
  • 200 m: 22.80 (2024)
  • 400 m: 49.44 (2022, NR)
  • 300 mH: 36.86 (2022, WB)
  • 400 mH: 50.95 (2024, AR)
  • Short track[b]
  • 200 m: 22.64 i (2024, NR)
  • 400 m: 49.17 i (2024, WR)
  • 500 m: 1:05.63 i (2023, WB)
Medal record summary
Women's athletics
Representing  Netherlands
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 1 1 2
World Championships 2 2 0
World Indoor Championships 2 2 0
World Relays 0 1 0
Diamond League 4 0 0
European Championships 5 0 1
European Indoor Championships 6 0 0
European Games 1 0 0
European U20 Championships 1 0 0
Total 22 6 3
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
400 m 5 1 0
400 m hurdles 8 1 2
4 × 400 m relay 7 2 0
4 × 400 m mixed 2 2 1
Total 22 6 3
Close

Bol holds the world record in the 400 metres short track[b] with a time of 49.17 seconds set on 2 March 2024; the European record in the 400 metres hurdles with a time of 50.95 seconds set on 14 July 2024, making her the second-fastest woman of all time in the event; the European record in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay with a time of 3:07.43 minutes set on 3 August 2024; and four Dutch records in individual events and relays. She also has world-best performances in the 300 metres hurdles, 500 metres short track, and mixed 4 × 400 metres relay short track.

She is a four-time medalist (one gold) at the Olympic Games, an eight-time medalist (four gold) at the World Championships (outdoor and indoor), a silver medalist at the World Relays, four-time champion in the Diamond League, a twelve-time medalist (eleven gold) at the European Championships (outdoor and indoor), a gold medalist at the European Games, and a ten-time medalist (five gold) at the Dutch Championships (outdoor and indoor).

Bol's highest World Athletics Rankings were No. 1 in the 400 metres hurdles in 2021–2025, No. 3 in the 400 metres in 2023 and 2024, and No. 2 of women overall in 2023 and 2024. She was European Athletics Rising Star of the Year in 2021 and European Athlete of the Year in 2022 and 2023.

Early life and background

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Femke Bol was born on 23 February 2000 in Amersfoort, Netherlands.[10][11] She has an older brother.[12] As a child, Bol practised judo for a year after she had broken her arm twice and her doctor had recommended the sport to help her learn how to fall.[13]

Around 2008, she started practising athletics at a local club, following her brother who was already a member there.[12][14] In an interview, Bol said about the sport: "It was always a way to clear your mind and just have fun and not think too much about other things. That's still what I like so much about it."[15] In 2014, she transferred to another local club, AV Altis, where her coach discovered her talent for longer sprints.[16] She worked as a volunteer scanning tickets during the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam.[17]

Bol attended secondary school in Amersfoort,[16] after which she became a student of communication sciences at Wageningen University.[12] As of 2023, she was in a relationship with Belgian pole vaulter Ben Broeders.[18] In 2024, the couple bought a house in Heelsum, Netherlands.[19]

During the 2023 European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, she called on people to donate money for humanitarian aid to the victims of the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes a month earlier.[20][21] Since 2025, she has been an ambassador for Free a Girl, a non-profit organisation that is committed to rescue girls from situations of sexual exploitation.[22][23]

Youth and junior career

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Bol focused on the 400 metres distance in 2015, at age 15, and started winning Dutch age-group competitions.[5] She won five national youth titles in the 400 m (outdoor and indoor) between 2015 and 2017, and four junior titles in 2018 and 2019 (400 m outdoor, indoor, and hurdles).[10] In 2016, she started training with coach Bram Peters at the athletics track of Ciko'66 in Arnhem, where her parents drove her almost daily.[5]

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19-year-old Bol at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.

At the international competitions, she progressed steadily. Competing against athletes up to two years her senior, Bol did not advance from the 400 m heats at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia. Two years later, the 17-year-old participated in the European Under-20 Championships held in Grosseto, Italy and reached the semi-finals of the event.[10]

In 2019, her last year as a junior competitor, she claimed her first national title (indoor 400 m) in a senior competition.[10] In June, in the third hurdles race of her life, Bol broke Dutch U20/U23 records and achieved World Championship qualifying standard when winning a meet in Geneva with a time of 55.94 s.[24][25] In July, she won a gold medal in the 400 m hurdles at the European U20 Championships in Borås, Sweden.[10] In September, she ran her first professional race at the Galà dei Castelli in Bellinzona, Switzerland.[3] In October, at the Doha World Championships in Qatar, the 19-year-old reached the semi-finals with a new personal best of 55.32 s in the heats of the 400 m hurdles, becoming the second-fastest European U20 woman in history.[26][27] She also helped her national women's team place seventh in the 4 × 400 m relay.[10]

Since November 2019, she has been training at the Dutch National Sports Centre Papendal near Arnhem, coached by Switzerland's Laurent Meuwly and her previous coach Bram Peters as assistant coach.[5]

Senior career

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2020: First senior Dutch record and first senior successes

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Bol set her first senior Dutch record on 18 July 2020 in Papendal.

Bol was forced to train on gravel paths in the woods and on grass fields when COVID-19 quarantine measures were first enacted in March 2020. Despite this, she raced in Papendal in July and broke by almost a second the national 400 m hurdles record of 54.62 s set by Ester Goossens in 1998.[28] First, running in the rain, she took almost a second off her 2019 best with a time of 54.47 s, which could not be ratified as only one other athlete competed. Two weeks later, she achieved 53.79 s, the fourth-fastest European under-23 time in history.[29]

During this pandemic season, the Dutchwoman won all her following races over the barriers: two Diamond League events staged in 2020 as one-off exhibition competitions, and three Continental Tour events. First she stayed ahead of all her competitors in Székesfehérvár, Hungary on 19 August, to repeat this achievement four days later at the Stockholm Bauhaus-galan winning her first Diamond race.[10] In September, she won in Ostrava (300 m hurdles), Bellinzona, and Rome. She reduced her open 400 metres pre-2020 best by 1.85 s down to 51.13 s.[10]

2021: Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist

Bol started her unbeaten indoor campaign on 30 January, beating her previous best in the 400 metres by more than 1.5 s to break a Dutch record in a time of 50.96 s at the Vienna Indoor Track & Field meet in Austria. The previous record was set a few minutes earlier by Lieke Klaver, who in turn broke Ester Goossens' mark which had stood at 51.82 s since 1998.[30] Bol then won all her following seven races at the distance in four events, improving in every final. Competing in the World Indoor Tour, she powered to meet records in Metz (50.81 s) and Toruń (50.66 s), then clocked 50.64 s at the Dutch Indoor Championships, and finally lowered her record to 50.63 s when winning at the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.[31][32] She took there her second gold medal anchoring the women's 4 × 400 m relay to a championship record.[33][34] Her individual mark made her the fastest European woman since 2009.[35]

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Bol during the 400 metres at the 2021 European Team Championships, where she won and set one of her eleven Dutch records from 2021.

The 21-year-old started the 2021 outdoor season by competing at the World Relays to set a 400 m national record of 50.56 s on 29 May at the IFAM meeting in Oordegem. She then started improving her own Dutch hurdling record when winning Diamond League meetings, beginning with a time of 53.44 s on 10 June in Florence. At the time it was also European U23 record, breaking a 37-year-old mark.[36] On 19 June, she returned to the 400 m flat event during the European Team Championships in Romania and bettered her record with a 50.37 s performance.[37] On 1 July in Oslo, she lowered her hurdles record in a time of 53.33 s. She then took almost a second off with a Diamond League record of 52.37 s on 4 July in Stockholm, where she beat Shamier Little by 0.02 s. This race was only the second in history, after the 2017 USATF Championships, in which three women recorded times below 53 seconds as third-placed Anna Ryzhykova finished in 52.96 s.[38] Bol, meanwhile, became the fourth fastest woman of all time with the sixth-fastest result ever, missing the European record by just 0.03 s.[39][40] On 6 July, she won the event at the Continental Tour meet in Székesfehérvár with a time of 52.81 s, edging out Little in 52.85 s again.[41] Having won the Diamond race in Gateshead, England on 13 July, she extended her unbeaten streak in her specialist event to 12 races in total. It was her third consecutive victory over Little, but this time Bol dominated, running away by about 10 metres.[42]

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Bol hurdles in the semi-final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games during heavy rain.

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July and August 2021, Bol ran six 400 m races with hurdles and flat, including three under 50 seconds relay legs. In the 400 m hurdles final, Bol finished third after Sydney McLaughlin (51.46 s – world record) and Dalilah Muhammad (51.58 s – inside previous world record).[43] With her time of 52.03 s, she broke the European record and became the third-fastest woman of all time at the event with the fourth-fastest result ever.[43][39][44] It was the first ever Olympic medal for the Netherlands at the event.[45] Before Bol's individual final on 4 August, she helped the mixed 4 × 400 m relay team set a national record in the final with her 49.74 s split, and later she anchored the women's 4 × 400 m relay to consecutive Dutch records in the heat and in the final, clocking splits of 49.14 s and 48.97 s respectively.[46] On 8 August, she reached a 400 metres hurdles ranking of No. 1 in the World Athletics Rankings for the first time.[47]

After the Games, in August and September, she continued her Diamond League dominance over the barriers, winning in Lausanne and the Zürich final with meet records of 53.05 s and 52.80 s respectively to claim her first Diamond trophy.[48][49] At the former, she finished clear ahead of Shamier Little and Dalilah Muhammad, while in Zürich Bol held off Little again.[50][51] Having skipped the USA's event in Eugene and ran 400 m flat in Paris (50.59 s, 4th),[10] she remained unbeaten in the Diamond race with six wins out of six races. While still in Switzerland, on 14 September, she ended her breakthrough season with another meet record in Bellinzona, staying unbeaten in 11 of her 12 hurdles races in 2021.[52]

In 2021, Bol gradually improved her personal bests, setting eleven national records with five more as a member of relay teams.[53][54][55][56][57] Bol also set a Diamond League record,[58] three Diamond League circuit's meet records,[58][59][60] and five meet records at the World Athletics Indoor Tour[31][32] and Continental Tour events.[61][62][52] She went under 53 seconds in the 400 m hurdles four times that season, had an individual win-loss record of 16–4, and was voted European Athletics Rising Star of the Year.[10][63]

2022: World indoor and outdoor silver medalist and triple European champion

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Bol (second from the left) at the 2022 World Indoors in Belgrade, where she finished second in the 400 m.

Bol opened her indoor season returning to Metz, France, where she bested her previous meeting record in the 400 m (50.72 s), and also won her 200 metres heat with a new personal best (23.37 s). Then she returned to Toruń, Poland, to beat her local meet record again (50.64 s). On 27 February, at the Dutch Indoor Championships, she improved her own national record with a 50.30 s clocking which was also faster than her outdoor best, and putting her 12th on the world indoor all-time list.[64][65] At the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade about three weeks later, Bol won the silver medal, after she fell at the finish line during the semi-finals, in a time of 50.57 s behind Miller-Uibo who ran 50.31 s.[66] Bol also anchored the Dutch women's 4 × 400 m relay to silver thanks to her closing surge from fourth into second, with the fastest split of the race of 50.26 s.[67][68]

The 22-year-old started her outdoor season on 31 May at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, where she ran a world best over the 300 m hurdles. She clocked a time of 36.86 s, which was 1.3 s faster than the previous best set by Zuzana Hejnová in 2013.[69] She continued with Diamond League wins in Rome, Oslo, and Stockholm, breaking a meet record in Oslo before posting 52.27 s in Stockholm to improve her own Diamond League record with 0.10 s which she set the previous year.[70][71][72]

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After her Olympic bronze Bol went one better in the 400 m hurdles at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.

At the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July, Bol first ran the final leg of the mixed 4 × 400 m relay. After taking the baton a distant third, she anchored the Dutch team to a silver and a national record thanks to her split of 48.95 s, the second-fastest female split of the entire race.[73] In the 400 m hurdles, she equalled her season's best (52.27 s) to finish behind McLaughlin (who lowered her world record to 50.68 s) and ahead of Muhammad in third (53.13 s).[74] The Dutch women's 4 × 400 m squad lost the baton in the heats and was disqualified despite a qualifying position. After the championships in August, she went for the first time under 50 seconds in the 400 m flat and set a national and meet record with a time of 49.75 s at the Silesia Diamond League.[75]

The same month, she completed the gold hat-trick at the European Championships in Munich, becoming the first female sprinter to complete a 400 m double at a major championships as she won one-lap events both with and without hurdles. Her time for the open 400 m of 49.44 s was the fastest at a Europeans since Stuttgart 1986 and a new national record, while over the barriers Bol set a championship record.[76][77] She rounded off her Munich campaign by producing a 48.52 s anchor leg to land the Netherlands gold and a national record in the 4 × 400 m relay, moving from third to first around the final bend; their result was also the fastest at a Europeans since 1986.[78] Bol became only the second Dutch athlete after Fanny Blankers-Koen in 1950 to win three gold medals at the event.[79]

In her return to the Diamond League, Bol set another meet record over the barriers in Lausanne, and then concluded her third senior season with a victory at the Zürich final, successfully defending her Diamond League title.[80] She achieved six marks under 53 seconds that year, staying unbeaten in 11 out of her 12 hurdles races, posted an individual win-loss record of 13–4, and was crowned European Female Athlete of the Year.[10][81][82]

2023: World indoor 400 m record and double world champion

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On 19 February 2023, Bol set a world indoor 400 m record, breaking the longest-standing track world record.

On 4 February, Bol improved by nearly 0.7 s the indoor world best performance in the less frequently run distance of 500 metres with 1:05.63 min, also faster than the outdoor record (1:05.9 min), at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, USA.[83] Competing again in Metz, France, she set new Dutch indoor records in both the 200 m and 400 m. Bol clocked a lifetime best in the former (22.87 s), and was the fourth woman in history to go under 50 seconds with 49.96 s in the latter.[84] She next triumphed with a meet record in Liévin (50.20 s).[85]

On 19 February at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, she sliced 0.7 s off her best with a landmark 49.26 s, breaking the longest-standing world record in a track race. This was at the time the 49.59 s indoor 400 m record, set by Jarmila Kratochvílová back in 1982.[86][87] After setting an outright lifetime best, Bol said, "this was almost a perfect race".[88]

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Bol capped her 2023 indoor campaign with a 49.85 s run at Istanbul 2023. She went under 50 seconds a record three times that year.

She capped her record-breaking indoor campaign by successfully defending her European 400 m title at Istanbul 2023 with the third mark under 50 seconds in the that season (49.85 s), a global record. She added her seventh European title anchoring the Netherlands to a 4 × 400 m relay victory with a new Dutch and championship record, making them the third-fastest national women's team in history.[89][90]

Training for the 2023 outdoor season, Bol practiced a different stride pattern for the 400 m hurdles in an effort to become faster. Previously, she took fifteen steps between the hurdles throughout the race, which meant she could jump over each hurdle with the same leg leading. Now, she tried out fourteen steps between the first few hurdles, which made her alternate between her legs for the jump, only to change it to fifteen steps for the last hurdles.[91] Bol tried this new setup in competition for the first time in Oordegem, Belgium on 27 May, where she ran sixteen steps after hurdle seven instead of fifteen and nonetheless set a world lead of 53.12 s.[92] Bol continued to win three Diamond League races over hurdles in Rome, Oslo, and Lausanne, setting meet records in all three of them.[93][94][95]

On 23 July, Bol made her first ever appearance at the London Diamond League. After leading from the first barrier, Bol continued to widen her lead throughout the entire race. At the finish line, she stopped the clock at a time of 51.45 s, which was a 0.58 s improvement of her personal best in the 400 hurdles.[96] With her performance in London, Bol became the third woman in history to run the 400 metres hurdles under 52 seconds. Her time of 51.45 s was the third-fastest time ever and made her the second-fastest woman of all time, as only world record holder McLaughlin-Levrone had run faster. This time also further lowered her own European and Diamond League records.[97] On 25 July, she reached a women's overall ranking of No. 2 in the World Athletics Rankings for the first time, with only Faith Kipyegon ranking higher.[98]

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Bol with her individual gold medal, together with silver medalist Shamier Little (right) and bronze medalist Rushell Clayton (left) in Budapest.

On 19 August, during the 4 × 400 m mixed relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Bol fell within metres of the finish line, while vying with Alexis Holmes of the USA for first place. Landing face first, Bol lost the relay baton over the finish line, making it impossible for the Netherlands team to legitimately finish the race and resulting in a DNF.[99] On 24 August, she gained her first world title when she won the final of the 400 m hurdles in 51.70 s.[100] She then continued her success on 27 August with her anchor leg in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay, passing Nicole Yeargin of Great Britain and Stacey-Ann Williams of Jamaica shortly before the finish line, earning her a second gold medal at these World Championships, together with team members Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters, and Lisanne de Witte (heat only).[101]

After the world championships, Bol won her 400 metres hurdles races at the Galà dei Castelli in Bellinzona, Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, and Prefontaine Classic in Eugene,[10] setting meeting records on all three occasions and becoming the 2023 Diamond League champion in 51.98 s, her third time under 52 seconds of the season, on 17 September.[10][102] In 2023, Bol won all of her twenty individual 400 m flat and hurdles races[10] and became European Athlete of the Year for a second time.[103]

2024: Two world records, double world indoor champion, and triple Olympic medalist

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Bol shortly after finishing the 400 m short track in a world record time of 49.17 s in Glasgow

On 3 February, Bol started her 2024 indoor season in Metz, where she won the 400 metres short track[b] with a meeting record of 49.69 s.[104] Here she also finished first in the 200 metres short track in 22.64 s, setting both a Dutch indoor record and a meeting record.[105][106] On 10 February, she won the 400 metres short track in Liévin in 49.63 s, another meeting record and the 4th-best result of all time.[107][108] At the 2024 Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships in Apeldoorn on 18 February, she improved her own world record in the 400 metres short track with 0.02 s to 49.24 s,[109] after running 50.55 s in the heats a day earlier.[110]

At the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Bol competed in the 400 m short track, where she won her heat in 52.00 s and her semi-final in 50.66 s.[10] In the final, she won the gold medal in 49.17 s, improving her world record for a second time this year.[111] In an interview after the final race, Bol had a high-pitched voice because of body exertion, which was compared online to the voice of Mickey Mouse.[112][113] She then anchored the Dutch women's relay team in the 4 × 400 m short track relay heats (3:27.70 min) and final, where she finished first in 3:25.07 min, setting a Dutch record and winning her second gold medal of these championships, together with Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters, Eveline Saalberg (heat only), Myrte van der Schoot (heat only), and Lisanne de Witte.[114][115][116]

On 28 April, Bol opened her 2024 outdoor season in Willemstad, Curaçao, where she competed in two distances at the Curaçao SprintFest.[117] She ran the 100 metres in 11.47 s finishing in fifth place and the 150 metres in 17.10 s finishing third, which were both personal bests.[117] On 4–5 May, she competed in the 2024 World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.[118] Bol ran the anchor leg in the heat of the mixed 4 × 400 m relay with Isayah Boers, Klaver, and Isaya Klein Ikkink, finishing in a championship record of 3:12.16 min and qualifying the Dutch mixed relay team for the 2024 Paris Olympics.[118] In the final, she anchored the mixed team to a silver medal in 3:11.45 min, where the United States won in 3:10.73 min.[119] On 2 June, Bol ran her first 400 m hurdles race of the season at the Bauhaus-galan in Stockholm, Sweden, which she won in 53.07 s.[120]

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The medalling mixed 4 × 400 m relay teams, with Bol second from the right, at the 2024 European Championships in Rome

Bol competed in three events at the 2024 European Championships in Rome, Italy. On 7 June, she won a bronze medal in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay, when she anchored the Dutch team with Liemarvin Bonevacia, Klaver, and Klein Ikkink finishing in 3:10.73 min after the Irish and Italian teams.[121] Bol had a split time of 49.21 s, which made her the fastest female competitor in this mixed relay final.[122] On 11 June, she successfully defended her European title in the 400 m hurdles,[123] winning in a championship record of 52.49 s,[123] after running 54.16 s in the semifinals a day earlier.[10] She received a Golden Crown for her final hurdles performance of 1253 points, because this was the highest World Athletics score in the women's sprints and hurdles category at the championships.[124][125] On 12 June, Bol anchored the Dutch women's 4 × 400 m relay team with Klaver, Peeters, and De Witte with a split time of 50.45 s to the first place in 3:22.39 min,[126][127] winning her second gold and third medal of the championships.[10]

On 29 and 30 June, Bol competed in the 200 m at the 2024 Dutch Championships in Hengelo, where she ran 23.14 s in her semi-final and an outdoor personal best of 22.80 s in the final, finishing in third place after Tasa Jiya and Klaver.[128][129] On 7 July, she won the 400 m in a meeting record of 50.02 s at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games also in Hengelo.[10]

On 14 July, Bol competed in the 400 m hurdles at Résisprint International in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.[130] She finished in 50.95 s, breaking her own European record from 2023 and going under 51 seconds for the first time.[130][131] It was the third-fastest time in history, only Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was faster when she ran her 2022 and 2024 world records.[130] Bol donated her bodysuit from the race to the Museum of World Athletics the following year.[132] On 20 July, she won the 400 m hurdles race in 51.30 s at the 2024 London Athletics Meet, breaking her own meeting record and Diamond League record.[10][133][134]

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Bol (fourth lane from the right) in the first round of the 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 Paris Olympics

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Bol competed and medalled in three events.[135][136] On 3 August, she anchored the Dutch team with Eugene Omalla, Klaver, and Klein Ikkink in the mixed 4 x 400 metres relay to win gold in a European record of 3:07.43 min.[137] The time was 0.02 s off the world record set by the team of the United States in the first round a day earlier.[137] Bol passed Naomi Van den Broeck of Belgium (fourth place), Amber Anning of Great Britain (bronze medal), and Kaylyn Brown of the United States (silver medal) and had a split time of 48.00 s, making her the fastest female runner of the race.[137][138] In the 400 metres hurdles, she ran 53.38 s in the first round on 4 August and 52.57 s in the semi-finals on 6 August.[139][140][141] On 8 August, she won a bronze medal in 52.15 s in the 400 m hurdles final, after McLaughlin-Levrone in a world record of 50.37 s and Anna Cockrell in a personal best of 51.87 s.[142] On 10 August, Bol anchored the Dutch women's team with Klaver, Peeters, and De Witte in the 4 × 400 m relay to a silver medal in a national record of 3:19.50 min, 4.23 s after the team of the United States in gold position and 0.22 s before the bronze team of Great Britain.[143] On 11 August, triple medalists Bol and Harrie Lavreysen (track cycling) were the flag bearers for the Netherlands at the Olympic closing ceremony.[144] On 13 August, Bol became a knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau as Olympic gold medalist.[145][146]

Bol won her next two 400 m hurdles races in the Diamond League, ensuring qualification for the season final in Brussels: on 22 August, she set a meeting record of 52.25 s at the 2024 Athletissima in Lausanne, Switzerland, and on 25 August, she set another meeting record of 52.13 s at the 2024 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów, Poland.[147][148][149] On 14 September, she won the Diamond League final in Brussels in 52.45 s, finishing more than a second before the rest of the field, which brought Bol the fourth Diamond League trophy of her career.[150][151]

2025: Double European indoor champion in relays

In January, Bol announced that she was not going to compete in individual events during the 2025 indoor season, but only in relays.[152] She explained her decision on social media: "It gives me the opportunity to have some more time processing everything that has happened and prioritize more things outside of the sports that are important to me."[153]

She opened her indoor season with the mixed 4 × 400 m relay during the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships for a home audience in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on 6 March 2025.[154] Her team, also including Nick Smidt, Eveline Saalberg, and Tony van Diepen, won a gold medal in a championship record of 3:15.63 min, which made them the fastest national team of all time in this short track event.[155][156][157] This performance was not recognised as world record, because World Athletics had determined that the initial short track world record was to be 3:12.44 min or faster.[158] It was also not recognised as European record, because the initial short track European record was to be 3:15.50 min or faster.[159] She continued at these championships with the women's 4 × 400 m relay on 9 March 2025.[160] Teamed with Lieke Klaver, Nina Franke, and Cathelijn Peeters, she won a second gold medal in a Dutch record of 3:24.34 min.[160] Half an hour after the race, the team was disqualified for hindering other runners, but this decision was successfully appealed and reversed.[160]

Personal bests

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Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[10]

Individual events

More information Event, Time ...
Personal best times for individual events
Event Time Location Date Record Notes
60 metres 7.73 i Apeldoorn, Netherlands 1 February 2020
100 metres 11.47 Willemstad, Curaçao 28 April 2024 (Wind: −0.3 m/s)
150 metres 17.10 Willemstad, Curaçao 28 April 2024 (Wind: −0.9 m/s)
200 metres short track 22.64 i Metz, France 3 February 2024 NR[106] Bol's outright 200 m best
long track 22.80 Hengelo, Netherlands 30 June 2024 (Wind: +1.9 m/s)
400 metres short track 49.17 i Glasgow, United Kingdom 2 March 2024 WR[111] Bol's outright 400 m best
long track 49.44 Munich, Germany 17 August 2022 NR NU23R[161]
500 metres short track 1:05.63 i Boston, Massachusetts, United States 4 February 2023 WB[83]
300 metres hurdles 36.86 Ostrava, Czech Republic 31 May 2022 WB WU23B[69]
400 metres hurdles 50.95 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland 14 July 2024 AR[130] Second-fastest woman of all time[162]
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Season's bests

More information Year, 200 m long track ...
Season's best times for individual events
Year 200 m
long track
200 m
short track
400 m
long track
400 m
short track
400 m
hurdles
2015 56.14
2016 25.5654.9555.95 i
2017 25.1825.15 i54.3954.47 i
2018 25.0954.3354.58 i
2019 23.7952.9853.24 i55.32
2020 23.4051.1352.47 i53.79
2021 23.1623.52 i50.3750.63 i52.03
2022 23.0023.37 i49.4450.30 i52.27
2023 22.8822.87 i49.8249.26 i51.45
2024 22.8022.64 i50.0249.17 i50.95
2025
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Key:   Lifetime best (in bold)

Team events

More information Type, Event ...
Personal best times for team events
Type Event Time Location Date Record Notes
Women's 4 × 400 metres relay 3:19.50 Paris, France[c] 10 August 2024 NR[143] Teamed with Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters, and Lisanne de Witte. Bol's split time for the anchor leg was 48.62 s.[143]
4 × 400 metres relay short track 3:24.34 i Apeldoorn, Netherlands 9 March 2025 NR[164] Third-fastest national team of all time.[165] Teamed with Lieke Klaver, Nina Franke, and Cathelijn Peeters.[164] Bol's split time for the anchor leg was 50.42 s.[166]
Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay 3:07.43 Paris, France[c] 3 August 2024 AR[167] Second-fastest national team of all time.[168] Teamed with Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, and Isaya Klein Ikkink.[167] Bol's split time for the anchor leg was 48.00 s.[138]
4 × 400 metres relay short track 3:15.63 i Apeldoorn, Netherlands 6 March 2025 WB[d] Fastest national team of all time.[156][157] Teamed with Nick Smidt, Eveline Saalberg, and Tony van Diepen.[155] Bol's split time for the anchor leg was 50.3 s.[155][169]
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World records

Summarize
Perspective

In her career, Bol set three world records in the 400 metres short track and three world best performances in the 300 metres hurdles, 500 metres short track, and mixed 4 × 400 metres relay short track.

More information Event, Time ...
World records and world best performances
Event Time Record Location Date Video Ref.
300 metres hurdles36.86WBOstrava, Czech Republic31 May 2022link[69]
500 metres short track1:05.63 iWBBoston, Massachusetts, United States4 February 2023link[83]
400 metres short track49.26 iWRApeldoorn, Netherlands19 February 2023link[170]
400 metres short track49.24 iWRApeldoorn, Netherlands18 February 2024link[171]
400 metres short track49.17 iWRGlasgow, United Kingdom2 March 2024link[171]
Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay short track3:15.63 iWB[d]Apeldoorn, Netherlands6 March 2025link[156][157]
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Key:   Current record (in bold)

Competition results

Summarize
Perspective

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[10]

World rankings

In her career, Bol has had three event rankings and an overall ranking in the World Athletics Rankings.

More information Year, Event ...
Highest world rankings per year
Year Event Overall
200 m 400 m 400 m
hurdles
2019 180[172]43[173]867[174]
2020 39[175]737[176]
2021 167[177]8[178]1[47]4[179]
2022 4[180]1[181]5[182]
2023 3[183]1[184]2[98]
2024 40[185]3[186]1[187]2[188]
2025 1[189]3[190]
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Key:   Lifetime best (in bold)

International competitions

More information Year, Competition ...
Achievements in international competitions representing the  Netherlands
Year Competition Location Position Event Time Notes
2015 European Youth Olympic Festival Tbilisi, Georgia 11th[191] (h) 400 m 57.41
2017 European U20 Championships Grosseto, Italy 12th[192] (sf) 400 m 54.74
2019 World Relays Yokohama, Japan 7th[193][194] 4 × 400 m relay 3:29.03 1st in Final B[194] (52.9 split)[195]
European U20 Championships Borås, Sweden 1st 400 m hurdles 56.25
European Team Championships, 1st League Sandnes, Norway 2nd 400 m hurdles 56.97
World Championships Doha, Qatar 22nd[196] (sf) 400 m hurdles 56.37 (NU20R in heat)[197]
7th 4 × 400 m relay 3:27.89 (52.1 split)[198][e]
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 1st 400 m 50.63 i NR
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:27.15 i CR NR (49.99 i split)[200]
World Relays Chorzów, Poland 4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:30.12 (50.58 split)[201][f]
8th 4 × 400 m mixed 3:18.04 NR (50.72 split)[203][g]
European Team Championships, 1st League Cluj-Napoca, Romania 1st 400 m 50.37 CR NR
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 4th 4 × 400 m mixed 3:10.36 NR (49.74 split)[205]
3rd 400 m hurdles 52.03 AR[44]
6th 4 × 400 m relay 3:23.74 NR (48.97 split)[206]
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 2nd 400 m 50.57 i
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:28.57 i (50.26 i split)[68]
World Championships Eugene, Oregon, United States 2nd 4 × 400 m mixed 3:09.90 NR (48.95 split)[207]
2nd 400 m hurdles 52.27
– (r1) 4 × 400 m relay DQ TR24.6
European Championships Munich, Germany 1st 400 m 49.44 NR[76]
1st 400 m hurdles 52.67 CR[208]
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:20.87 NR (48.52 split)[82]
2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 1st 400 m 49.85 i
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:25.66 i CR NR (49.58 i split)[209]
European Games Chorzów, Poland 1st 400 m 49.82 CR[210]
European Team Championships First Division
World Championships Budapest, Hungary – (f) 4 × 400 m mixed DNF
1st 400 m hurdles 51.70
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:20.72 NR[211] (48.75 split)[212]
2024 World Indoor Championships Glasgow, United Kingdom 1st 400 m 49.17 i WR[111]
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:25.07 i NR[115] (50.54 i split)[213]
World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 2nd 4 × 400 m mixed 3:11.45 (49.63 split)[214]
European Championships Rome, Italy 3rd 4 × 400 m mixed 3:10.73 (49.21 split)[122]
1st 400 m hurdles 52.49 CR[215]
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:22.39 (50.45 split)[127]
Olympic Games Paris, France 1st 4 × 400 m mixed 3:07.43 AR (48.00 split)[138]
3rd 400 m hurdles 52.15
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:19.50 NR (48.62 split)[143]
2025 European Indoor Championships Apeldoorn, Netherlands 1st 4 × 400 m mixed 3:15.63 i WB[d] CR (50.3 i split)[155][169]
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:24.34 i CR NR (50.42 i split)[164][166]
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Circuit wins and titles

400 metres hurdles champion (4): 2021,[49] 2022,[81] 2023,[102] 2024[150]
400 metres hurdles wins, other events and times (in seconds) specified in parentheses:
400 metres hurdles wins, other events and times (in seconds) specified in parentheses:
400 metres short track wins, other events and times (in seconds or minutes:seconds) specified in parentheses:

National championships

More information Year, Competition ...
Achievements at national championships representing AV Altis
Year Competition Location Position Event Time Notes
2015 Dutch U18 Championships Breda 1st 400 m 56.14
2016 Dutch U18 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 56.74 i
Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 6th 400 m sh 55.95 i
Dutch Championships Amsterdam 4th 400 m 55.82
Dutch U18 Championships Breda 1st 400 m 54.95
2017 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 6th 400 m sh 54.47 i
Dutch U20/U18 Indoor Championships, U18 events Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 55.48 i
Dutch U20/U18 Championships, U18 events Vught 1st 400 m 54.39
2018 Dutch U20 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 54.93 i
Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 5th 400 m sh 54.58 i
Dutch U20 Championships Emmeloord 1st 400 m 54.91
Dutch Championships Utrecht 6th 400 m 54.40
2019 Dutch U20 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 54.34 i
Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 53.24 i NU20R[220]
Dutch U20 Championships Alphen aan den Rijn 1st 400 m hurdles 57.87
2nd 200 m 23.79
Dutch Championships The Hague 7th 200 m 24.41
2020 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 2nd 400 m sh 52.78 i
Dutch Championships Utrecht 3rd 200 m 23.40
2021 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 50.64 i
Dutch Championships Breda 4th 200 m 23.16
2022 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 50.30 i NR[64]
Dutch Championships Apeldoorn 2nd 200 m 23.05 (23.00 in heat)
2023 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 49.26 i WR[86]
Dutch Championships Breda 2nd 200 m 23.05 (22.88 in heat)
2024 Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m sh 49.24 i WR[109]
Dutch Championships Hengelo 3rd 200 m 22.80
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Recognition

2020
2021
2022
2023
2024

Notes

  1. Best from outdoor 400-metres track (long track) only
  2. On 1 November 2023, World Athletics replaced the term 'indoor' with 'short track' for the indoor events that take place on 200-metres tracks.[9]
  3. This race was held in the Stade de France that is located in Saint-Denis, France, but World Athletics lists Paris, France, as the location for this race.[10][163]
  4. The time was not recognized as a world record, because the target for the initial short track world record was 3:12.44 min or faster,[158] but it was a world best performance as the fastest performance in the world up to that time.[156][157]
  5. Dutch team ran 3:27.40 min in the heats, where Bol also had a split time 52.1 s.[199]
  6. Dutch team ran 3:28.40 min in the heats.[202]
  7. Time and split from the heats; Bol was replaced in the final in which Dutch team clocked 3:21.02 min.[204]

References

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