Femke Bol breaks her own world record in Apeldoorn

Athlete Femke Bol has set a new world record for the 400 meters at the National Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. The 23-year-old from Amersfoort stopped the clock at 49.24 after two laps on the tartan track of the sold-out Omnisport. That time was two hundredths below the 49.26, which she ran a year ago at the National Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn and with which she broke the 41-year-old world record of the Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova.

Bol won the national title in the 400 meters indoors for the fifth time with her record time. Lieke Klaver finished second, just like last year. She improved her record with a time of 50.10.

Bol almost caused the packed Omnisport to explode with her dazzling performance. She ran in the ideal outside lane and, after the first round, crossed ahead of Klaver into the inside track for the final round. In it, she again showed a splitting acceleration, which was too much for Klaver. Nevertheless, the Enkhuizen native ran her fastest indoor 400 ever, following in Bol's footsteps.

Bol had already shown her good form twice this winter with top times. She opened her season in Metz at the beginning of February with 49.69; a week later, in Liévin, she recorded 49.63. So far, she is the only athlete in the world to have run the indoor 400 meters in under 50 seconds this year.

The 400-meter indoor is not a main event for Bol but is an important distance. She gains the speed she needs in the outdoor season for her favorite event, the 400-meter hurdles. She won the world title in that event in Budapest last year, and she wants to go for gold at the Olympic Games in Paris next summer.

The 400-meter relay is also in her repertoire because Bol is a significant asset of the 4x400-meter relay team. Bol won gold in the women's relay at the World Championships in Budapest last summer. Those two world titles in Budapest earned her the election of European Athlete of the Year and the Sportswoman of the Year in the Netherlands.

Her world record in Apeldoorn is the prelude to undoubtedly more success this winter. Bol has set her sights on the world indoor title in the 400 meters at the World Championships in Glasgow at the beginning of March. That title is still missing from her ever-expanding honors list. She already got silver two years ago in Belgrade. The victory went to top athlete Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas.