Femke Bol

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Femke Bol
Femke Bol at the 2020 Bauhaus Galan meeting in Stockholm (cropped).jpg
Bol at the 2020 Diamond League meet in Stockholm
Personal information
Nickname(s)Bambi[1]
Born (2000-02-23) 23 February 2000 (age 21)
Amersfoort, Netherlands
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Weight65 kg (143 lb)[2]
Sport
CountryNetherlands
SportTrack and field
Event(s)
ClubAV Altis
Coached by
  • Laurent Meuwly (national, 2020–)[3]
  • Bram Peters (2017–)
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals
  • 2021 Tokyo
  • 400 m hurdles,  Bronze
  • 4x400 m, 6th
  • 4x400 m mixed, 4th
Personal best(s)
  • 400 m hurdles: 52.03 AR 2021
  • 400 m: 50.37 NR 2021
  • Indoor
  • 400 m: 50.63i NR 2021
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  Netherlands
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 400 m hurdles
Diamond League
First place 2021 400 m hurdles
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Toruń 400 m
Gold medal – first place 2021 Toruń 4×400 m
European U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Borås 400 m hurdles
Updated on 9 September 2021.

Femke Bol (born 23 February 2000 in Amersfoort)[4] is a Dutch track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles with a European record of 52.03 seconds, becoming the third-fastest woman of all time and the first Dutch Olympic medallist at the event. In her breakthrough 2021 season, Bol became also a two-time European Indoor champion, took 400m hurdles Diamond League title setting a circuit and three meet records, she set three Continental Tour meet records and 11 Dutch records in individual events with five more as a member of relay teams.[5][6]

Bol was in her specialist hurdles event 2019 European under-20 champion. As of December 2021 she held Dutch records over the 300 / 400 m hurdles, and 400 m (in- and outdoor). For her 2021 season she was voted European Athletics' women's Rising Star.[7]

Early life[]

Femke Bol, born on 23 February 2000 in Amersfoort, trained judo initially, and turned to running around age eight after her brother got into athletics.

As of 2021, she was a student of Communication Sciences at the Wageningen University & Research.[8][9]

Career[]

Junior career[]

Bol showed her sprint talent from a young age, winning Dutch competitions in her age categories. She won five national youth titles in the 400 metres (indoor and outdoor) between 2015 and 2017, and four junior titles between 2018 and 2019 (400 m in-, outdoor and hurdles).[4]

At the international competitions, Bol progressed steadily. At age 15, she did not advance from the heats in the 400 m at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival. Two years later, she reached the semi-finals in the event at the 2017 European Under-20 Championships.

In 2019, her last junior year, she won two gold medals at the Dutch U20 championships (400 m indoors and 400 m hurdles), and claimed her first national senior title (400 m indoors). In June, running 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.[10] In July, she confirmed herself as the continent's best under-20 runner in her, since that year, signature event of the 400 m hurdles, with a gold medal at the European U20 Championships. At the Doha World Championships, the 19-year-old reached the semi-finals with a new personal best of 55.32 s in the heats, becoming the second-fastest under-20 European woman in history.[11][12] She also helped her national women's team place seventh in the 4x400 m relay.[4]


Senior career[]

Bol at the 2020 Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár

2020[]

In July, Bol broke by almost a second the 1998 400 m hurdles Dutch record of 54.62 s, racing at the training centre Papendal near Arnhem where she currently lives.[13][1] First, running in the rain, she took almost a second off her career 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 seconds, the fourth-fastest European under-23 time in history.[14] With this mark, she would have placed fourth at the previous year's World Championships, missing a bronze by just five hundredths of a second.

During this pandemic season, Bol won all her other races over the barriers (two Diamond League promotional events, and three Continental Tour events). She reduced her open 400 metres pre-2020 best by 1.85 s down to 51.13 s.[4]

2021[]

In what was very successful season, the 21-year-old improved gradually her personal bests, setting 11 individual national records with five more as a member of relay teams.[6]

She started her unbeaten indoor campaign on 30 January, smashing 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. Previous record was set a few minutes earlier by Lieke Klaver, who in turn broke the mark which had stood at 51.82 since 1998.[15] Bol then won all her following seven races at the distance in four events, improving in every final. Competing in the World Athletics Indoor Tour, she ran meet records of 50.81 in Metz and 50.66 in Toruń, then clocked 50.64 at the Dutch Indoor Championships, and finally lowered her record to 50.63 seconds when winning during the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland.[16][17] She took there her second gold medal anchoring women's 4×400 m relay team to a championship record of 3:27.15.[18][5]

Outdoors Bol started by competing at the World Athletics 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 400 m hurdles 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.[19] On 19 June, she reverted back to the open 400m during European Team Championships in Romania and bettered her record with a 50.37 performance.[20] On 1 July in Oslo, she lowered her hurdles record in a time of 53.33 s to further take 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 fast race was only the second in history, after 2017 USATF Championships, in which three women recorded times below 53 seconds as third-placed Anna Ryzhykova set the Ukrainian record of 52.96.[21] 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.[22][23] 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.[24] Having won Diamond race in Gateshead, England on 13 July, she extended her unbeaten streak in her specialist event to 6 races in the 2021 season and 12 straight races in total. It was her third consecutive victory over the US rival, but this time Bol dominated, running away by about 10 metres.[25]

Bol running in semi-final of the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games during heavy rain

At the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July and August 2021, Bol ran six 400m races with hurdles or flat, including three under 50 seconds relay legs. In what was the speediest women's 400m hurdles race in history, she bettered an individual Dutch record for the 11th time that year to break a European and Olympic record, finishing third in a time of 52.03 seconds. She lost only to her main rivals in the world, the winner Sydney McLaughlin (51.46 – world record) and the runner-up Dalilah Muhammad (51.58 – inside previous world record).[26][27] Bol broke, however, the 2003 Yuliya Pechonkina's European mark of 52.34 s (world record until 2019) and the 2008 Melaine Walker's Olympic record of 52.64 s, becoming the third-fastest woman of all time at the event with the fourth-fastest result ever.[22][28] Her result would have been also a world record about a month earlier, before 27 June, when McLaughlin clocked 51.90 s at the US Olympic trials. It was the first ever Olympic medal for the Netherlands at the event.[29] Before Bol's individual final on 4 August, she helped mixed 4x400m relay team set national record in the final with her 49.74 s split, and later she anchored women's 4x400 relay to consecutive Dutch records in the heat and in the final, clocking splits of 49.14 s and 48.97 s respectively.[30]

After the Games, in August and September, she continued her Diamond League domination over the barriers, winning Lausanne Athletissima and Zürich Weltklasse final with meet records of 53.05 s and 52.80 s respectively. In Lausanne she finished clear ahead of Shamier Little and Dalilah Muhammad, while in Zürich Bol held off Little again.[31][32] Having skipped USA's Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and ran 400m flat at the Meeting de Paris, 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 yet another meet record at the Galà dei Castelli in Bellinzona, staying unbeaten in 11 from her 12 hurdles races of 2021.[33] Bol achieved in that season four marks under 53 seconds.[4]

Achievements[]

Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted. Last updated on 14 September 2021.[4]

Personal bests[]

Event Time (s) Wind Venue Date Notes
200 metres 23.16 +0.5 m/s Breda, Netherlands 27 June 2021
400 metres 50.37 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 19 June 2021 NR
4×400 m relay split 48.97 Tokyo, Japan 7 August 2021 (fourth leg)
300 metres hurdles 38.55 Ostrava, Czech Republic 8 September 2020 NB #2nd all time
400 metres hurdles 52.03 Tokyo, Japan 4 August 2021 AU23R European record #3rd all time[22]
400 metres indoor 50.63 i Toruń, Poland 6 March 2021 NR

International competitions[]

Representing the  Netherlands
Year Competition Venue Position Event Time Notes
2015 European Youth Olympic Festival Tbilisi, Georgia (heats) 400 m 57.41
2017 European U20 Championships Grosseto, Italy (sf) 400 m 54.74
2019 World Relays Yokohama, Japan 7th 4x400 m 3:29.03 (1st in Final B)
European U20 Championships Borås, Sweden 1st 400 m hurdles 56.25
European Team Championships, First League Sandnes, Norway 2nd 400 m hurdles 56,97
World Championships Doha, Qatar 22nd (sf) 400 m hurdles 56.37 (PB NU20R h [n 1])
7th 4x400 m 3:27.89 [n 2]
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 1st 400 m 50.63 i EL NR
1st 4x400 m 3:27.15 i EL CR NR
World Relays Chorzów, Poland 4th 4×400 m 3:30.12 [n 3]
8th 4×400 m mixed 3:18.04 NR [n 4]
European Team Championships, First League Cluj-Napoca, Romania 1st 400 m 50.37 CR NR
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 3rd 400 m hurdles 52.03 AR
6th 4×400 m 3:23.74 NR
4th 4×400 m mixed 3:10.36 NR

Circuit wins and titles[]

National championships[]

Year Competition Venue Position Event Time
2015 Dutch U18 Championships Breda 1st 400 m 56.14
2016 Dutch U18 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m i 56.74
Apeldoorn 6th 400 m i 55.95
Amsterdam 4th 400 m 55.82
Dutch U18 Championships Breda 1st 400 m 54.95
2017 Apeldoorn 6th 400 m i 54.47
Dutch U20/U18 Indoor Championships, U18 events Apeldoorn 1st 400 m i 55.48
Dutch U20/U18 Championships, U18 events Vught 1st 400 m 54.39
2018 Dutch U20 Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m i 54.93
Apeldoorn 5th 400 m i 54.58
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 i 54.34
Dutch Indoor Championships Apeldoorn 1st 400 m i 53.24
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 i 52.78
Dutch Championships Utrecht 3rd 200 m 23.40
2021 Apeldoorn 1st 400 m i 50.64
Breda 4th 200 m 23.16

Progression[]

Year 200 m Notes 400 m Notes 400 m
indoor		 Notes 400 mH Notes
2015 – 56.14 – – (age 15)
2016 25.56 54.95 55.95 i –
2017 25.18 54.39 54.47 –
2018 25.09 54.33 54.58 –
2019 23.79 52.98 NU20R 53.24 NU20R 55.32 NU20R
2020 23.40 51.13 52.47 53.79 NR
2021 23.16 50.37 NR 50.63 NR 52.03 AR

Notes[]

  1. ^ In the heats Bol clocked personal best time of 55.32 seconds
  2. ^ Dutch team ran 3:27.40 sec in the heats
  3. ^ Dutch team ran 3:28.40 sec in the heats
  4. ^ Time from the heats; Bol was replaced in the final in which Dutch team clocked 3:21.02 sec

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Athlete profile – BOL Femke". Olympics.com. IOC. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Femke Bol". eurosport.com. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  3. ^ "After success in Switzerland, Meuwly is working his magic in the Netherlands". European Athletics. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Femke BOL – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b "No barriers for record-breaker Bol". World Athletics. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ a b "Femke Bol's 2021 Dutch record count". Twitter. European Athletics. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Hassan and Warholm crowned 2021 European Athletes of the Year". European Athletics. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Vreeswijk, Bert. "Femke Bol: Wat goed is komt snel". baan-atletiek.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  9. ^ Crumley, Euan (5 April 2021). "Femke Bol pushing herself to new heights". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  10. ^ Bol, Femke (28 January 2022). "Dream bigger". spikes.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 28 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Mulkeen, Jon; Ramsak, Bob (19 July 2020). "Crouser throws 22.91m, Bol breaks Dutch 400m hurdles record". World Athletics. Retrieved 24 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "400mH Women - U20 - Outdoor - Europe | until 2021-06-24". World Athletics. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Change filters for other age / area / time range{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ van Ommeren, Hans (9 August 2020). "Staat Femke Bol aan het begin van een imposante carrière?". utrechtsesportkrant.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Bol scorches to world 400m hurdles lead of 53.79 in Papendal". European Athletics. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Hodgkinson shatters world indoor U20 800m record with 1:59.03 in Vienna". European Athletics. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Metz Moselle Athlelor – Les Records Femmes 01/02/2022". Wayback Machine. meeting-metz-moselle-athlelor.fr. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Copernicus Cup – Rekordy 01/02/2022". Wayback Machine. Copernicus Cup. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  18. ^ Henderson, Jason (6 March 2021). "Femke Bol delivers in style". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 6 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ "Bol breaks long-standing European U23 400m hurdles record in Florence". European Athletics. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Bol's 400m championship record puts the Netherlands on the promotion path in Cluj-Napoca". European Athletics. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ "Video – L'incredibile 52.37 di Femke Bol e il 52.39 di Shamier Little". atleticalive.it (in Italian). 4 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  22. ^ a b c "All time Top lists – 400 m hurdles Women – Senior Outdoor | until 2021-08-04". World Athletics. Retrieved 4 August 2021. Change filters for other age / territorial / time range. Switch between 'Best by Athlete' and 'All' for personal bests only and all legal marks respectively{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ^ "Duplantis, Bol and Mahuchikh shine at the Stockholm Diamond League". European Athletics. 4 July 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (6 July 2021). "Thompson-Herah, Bol and Simbine sizzle to meeting records in Szekesfehervar". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ Wilson, Steve (13 July 2021). "Bromell and Katir shine in Gateshead at final pre-Olympic test". World Athletics. Retrieved 13 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ^ Henderson, Jason (4 August 2021). "Sydney McLaughlin wins 400m hurdles showdown in world record". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  27. ^ Ingle, Sean (4 August 2021). "The greatest race ever part II: Sydney McLaughlin wins 400m hurdles gold in world record time". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  28. ^ "Bol shatters European record to win 400m hurdles bronze". European Athletics. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ "Silver in swimming, bronze for hurdles – more Olympic success for NL". DutchNews.nl. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ "TOKYO 2020 - BOL Femke". IOC. 7 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Bol breezes to a meeting record of 53.05 in Lausanne". European Athletics. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  32. ^ Smythe, Steve (9 September 2021). "Fast times for Mboma and Thompson-Herah at Diamond League final". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 12 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ "Bol wins again in Bellinzona as Sprunger bows out". European Athletics. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  34. ^ "Wanda Diamond League Final | Letzigrund - Zürich (SUI) | 8th-9th September 2021" (PDF). Diamond League. 9 September 2021. p. 10. Retrieved 9 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

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