Dutch 400-meter hurdles World Champion Femke Bol to move up to 800 meters
Dutch track star Femke Bol has decided to shift from the 400-meter hurdles to the 800 meters, a move she and her coach began considering immediately after the Paris Olympics. Bol confirmed that she deliberately postponed the transition, already planned last summer, by a year to ensure proper preparation for the change.
“You sit down and reflect: what have I achieved over the past four years, how did I do it, and what do I want to reach in the next Olympic cycle?” Bol told NOS. “My coach, Laurent Meuwly, and I happened to have the same idea—to try the 800 meters.”
Bol, 25, said she delayed the switch to make a thoughtful decision and to bid farewell to the 400-meter hurdles. “Partly to really think it through carefully, because it’s not just a simple step,” she said. “And also to say goodbye to my 400-meter hurdles in a positive way.”
“I’m going into it as a rookie, because I have no idea how fast I can go,” Bol added. “I just hope people don’t expect me to run a world record in my first race, because that’s impossible. The goal is to peak at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.”
Bol and Meuwly briefly considered switching to the 400 meters flat, the event in which she holds the indoor world record of 49.17 seconds. “I don’t enjoy the 400 meters enough,” Bol told NOS. “That event focuses even more on speed, which is one of my weaker points. I rely on endurance. The competition in the 800 meters is incredibly strong right now, so I’m really looking forward to a new challenge.”
Bol also hopes to learn from former Olympic champion Ellen van Langen, who won gold in the 800 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Games and still holds the Dutch record of 1:55.54. “She was one of the few who already knew I was planning this and reacted very enthusiastically,” Bol told the newspaper. “She can be a mentor for me.”
