Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver lead the Dutch women’s team to gold in 4x400

Femke Bol and Lieke Klaver guided the Dutch relay team in the 4x400 meters to the World Athletics Indoor Championship in Glasgow. It is the first time in the history of Dutch athletics that a relay team won gold at an indoor World Championships.

Bol and Klaver, together with Cathelijn Peeters and Lisanne de Witte, ran to victory in the final in a Dutch record of 3.25.07. The United States team took silver in 3:25.34, and the bronze medal went to Great Britain in 3:26.36.

For Bol, it was her second gold medal at the tournament in the Scottish capital. She won gold in the 400 meters on Saturday evening in a world record time of 49.17. Klaver won silver in that final and thus also obtained her second World Cup medal.

Coach Laurent Meuwly gave Klaver some rest on Sunday morning. Therefore, she did not compete in the series. Bol did run and already showed her excellent form. She moved from third to first place with an acceleration in the last 200 meters.

The Dutch were dominant in the final. Klaver already took the lead as the starting runner, Peeters and De Witte held the first position so that Bol could finish. The American Alexis Holmes pushed for the last meters, but Bol managed to squeeze out an extra acceleration before the finish line.