Dutch athlete Femke Bol

Femke Bol is a Dutch athlete specializing in track and field events, particularly the 400m hurdles and 400m. She is the reigning World Champion in the 400m hurdles as of 2023, and she also holds the title of World Indoor Champion in the 400m for 2024, in addition to being the world record holder in the short track category. In the 4x400m relay, she is the World Champion in 2023 and World Indoor Champion in 2024 with the Dutch women’s team, as well the Olympic Champion in Paris 2024 Games with the Dutch mixed team. Femke Bol holds the world record for the 400m short track with a remarkable time of 49.17 seconds and the European record in the 400m hurdles with a time of 50.95 seconds.

Femke Bol was born on February 23, 2000, in Amersfoort, Netherlands. Initially, she began her athletic journey in judo before transitioning to athletics.

Femke Bol started in her competitive career already in 2015, winning the 400m bronze at the Leiden Gouden Spike and the gold at the Breda Dutch U18 Championships. She qualified for the Tbilisi 13th European Youth Olympic Festival, but did not overcome the heats, finishing 5th.

In 2016, Femke Bol already was named one of the shining stars of Dutch athletics and biggest talents of the country in 400m. She started the season by winning the gold at Apeldoorn Dutch U18 Indoor Championships and debuted at senior national championship – Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships, where finished 6th. During the outdoor season, she won the gold at the Wageningen Tartlétos Loopgala and finished 4th at the Amsterdam Dutch Championships, before winning another junior title at the Breda Dutch U18 Championships.

In 2017, Femke Bol won the 400m gold at the prestigious Reykjavík Indoor Games, but again missed the senior national honor, finishing 6th at the Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships. However, she won the gold at the Apeldoorn Dutch U20/U18 Indoor Championships and Vught Dutch U20/U18 Championships, but also qualified for the Grosseto European U20 Championships, finishing 8th in the semi-finals and again missing the chance to purchase the honors.

Femke Bol continue dominated the junior championships at her age category in 2018 and also gaining experience to improve her results. She won the gold at the Apeldoorn Dutch U20 Indoor Championships and finished 5th at the Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the 400m gold at the Emmeloord Dutch U20 Championships, but again failed to reach the podium at the senior championships, finishing 6th at the Utrecht Dutch Championships.

Femke Bol made her first international breakthrough in 2019. She started the season by winning her first senior national title in 400m, triumphing with the gold at the Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships after winning another Dutch U20 Indoor Championships gold. She was part of the 4x400m relay team for the Yokohama IAAF World Relays, but failed to reach the podium. Femke Bol continue the season by winning the gold at the FBK Games in Hengelo in 400m and won her first honor in 400m hurdles at the AtletiCAGeneve. She won the 400m hurdles gold and 400m silver at the Alphen aan den Rijn Dutch U20 Championships, before triumphing at the prestigious Athletissima Lausanne. At the Boras European U20 Championships, Femke Bol won her first international title, triumphing with the 400m gold. She won the 400m hurdles silver at the Sandnes European Athletics Team Championships First League and competed at the Doha IAAF World Championships in Athletics, finishing 7th in 4x400m relay, but did not qualify for the final in the individual 400m hurdles.

In 2020, Femke Bol already settled as one of the top European runners in 400m and 400m hurdles. SHe won the 400m gold at the Apeldoorn 12e AV PEC 1910 Indoor and Meeting Metz Moselle Athlelor, as well as the 400m silver at the Meeting Elite en salle feminin du Val d’Oise in Eaubonne and Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships. She started the outdoor season by winning the 400m hurdles gold at the Test wedstrijd Papendal in Arnhem and 400m gold at the CITIUS Champs in Bern. At the Herculis Meeting in Monaco, she won the 400m gold, although not competing for the Diamond League. Femke Bol continue the season by winning the 400m hurdles gold at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix Gyulai Istvan Memorial, BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm, Gala dei Castelli in Bellinzona, and Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Roma.

Femke Bol made her Olympics debut in 2021 at the Tokyo Games, winning the 400m hurdles bronze. She also competed in 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay, but finished 6th and 4th, respectively. Meanwhile, she won the 400m and 4x400m relay gold medals at the Torun European Athletics Indoor Championships and 400m gold at the Cluj-Napoca European Athletics Team Championships First League, but also finished 4th at the Chorzow World Athletics Relays in 4x400m relay. Femke Bol made her Diamond League’s debut, winning the 400m hurdles gold at the Firenze Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, Oslo Bislett Games, Stockholm Bauhaus-Galan, Gateshead Muller British GP, and Athletissima Lausanne. She also won the Diamond League Final at the Weltklasse Zurich. She was awarded European Athletics Rising Star of the Year.

In 2022, Femke Bol won the 400m gold at the Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships as a warm-up for the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Beograd, where triumphed with 400m and 4x400m relay silver medals. She continue the season by winning the 300m hurdles gold at the 61st Golden Spike in Ostrava and 400m hurdles gold at the FBK Games in Hengelo. During the Diamond League meetings, Femke Bol won the 400m hurdles gold in Rome, Oslo, Stockholm, Chorzow, Lausanne, as well as the Diamond League Final in Zurich. She won the silver medals in 400m hurdles and 4x400m mixed relay at the Eugene World Athletics Championships, as well as the goold medals in 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay at the Munich European Athletics Championships.

Femke Bol started breaking record in 2023. She won the 500m gold at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston with a new world best performance of 1:05.63 min. While competing at the Meeting Metz Moselle Athlelor, she established new Dutch indoor records for both the 200m and 400m events. Femke Bol achieved a personal best in the 200m with a time of 22.87 sec, and she became the fourth woman in history to complete the 400m in under 50 seconds, finishing with a time of 49.96 sec. In February at the Apeldoorn Dutch Indoor Championships, she cut 0.7 sec off her best at 400m indoor, clocking 49.26 sec, breaking the longest-standing world record in a track race. This was at the time the 49.59 sec indoor 400m record, set by Jarmila Kratochvílova back in 1982. She closed the indoor season by defending her titles in 400m and 4x400m relay at the Istanbul European Athletics Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, Femke Bol won the 400m hurdles gold at the IFAM Oordegem and Gala dei Castelli in Bellinzona. She made another wonderful Diamond League’s strike of winning the 400m hurdles gold in Firenze, Oslo, Lausanne, London, Bruxelles, as well as the Diamond League Final in Eugene. At the London Athletics Meet, she clocked 51.45 sed, which was a 0.58 sed improvement of her personal best in the 400m hurdles and became the third woman in history to run the 400m hurdles under 52 seconds. Meanwhile, Femke Bol won the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay gold at the Budapest World Athletics Championships, Budapest 2023.

In 2024, Femke Bol competed at her second Olympics and won her first Olympics gold. At the Paris 2024 Games, she won the gold in 4x400m mixed relay, but also earned the silver in 4x400m relay and bronze in 400m hurdles. Meanwhile, she won the 400m and 4x400m relay gold at the Glasgow World Athletics Indoor Championships, 4x400m relay silver at the Nassau World Athletics Relays, but also 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay gold, as well as 4x400m mixed relay bronze at the Roma European Athletics Championships. During the Diamond League’s Meetings, Femke Bol won the 400m hurdles gold in Stockholm, London, Lausanne, Chorzow, as well as the Diamond League Final in Brussels. In July, she competed in the 400m hurdles at Resisprint International in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland., finishing finished in 50.95 sed, breaking her own European record from 2023, as well as national record, and going under 51 seconds for the first time.

In 2025, Femke Bol started the 2025 season by winning the European gold medals at the Apeldoorn European Athletics Indoor Championships, triumphing in 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay. She started the outdoor season at the Diamond League’s Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athlétisme de Rabat, winning in 400m hurdles with 52.46 sec. She won the gold at the FBK Games in Hengelo, setting a new meeting record, before earning another Diamond League’s gold at the BAUHAUS-Galan in Stockholm. At the 64th Ostrava Golden Spike in Ostrava she finished third in 400m, but after returning to 400m hurdles she won two more gold medals at the Diamond League’s Meetings in Monaco and London. In August, she won the gold at the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix Gyulai Istvan Memorial.

Femke Bol in numbers

1x Olympics champion
1x Olympics silver medalist
2x Olympics bronze medalist
2x World champion
2x World Athletics Championships silver medalist
4x Diamond League Final winner
2x World Indoor champion
2x World Athletics Indoor Championships silver medalist
5x European champion
6x European Indoor champion
Personal Best: 50.95 sec (400m hurdles), 49.17 sec (400m indoor, WR), 49.17 sec (400m), 1:05.63 min (500m indoor, WR), 36.86 sec (300m hurdles, WR), 3:19.50 min (4x400m relay), 3:07.43 min (4x400m mixed relay)

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