Who Is Femke Bol? Watch Her Break 41-Year-Old Women's Indoor 400M World Record

Netherlands athlete Femke Bol has recently surpassed one of the world’s longest-standing records in a track race. Bol set a new record in the women's 400-meter indoor race at her home turf.

An Olympic medalist, 22-year-old Femke Bol broke one of the track's oldest world records at the Netherlands national championships in the presence of her home crowd.

Who Is Femke Bol?

The 41-year-old popular record belongs to Jarmila Kratochvlova for her impeccable 49.59 timing set in 1982. Bol surpassed this in Apeldoorn, at the Netherlands national championships event. Bol, who is both a world medalist and an Olympian also established a world record of 36.86 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles in Ostrava in 2022.

In the particular race that has the world talking about the 22-year-old's athletic ability, she surpassed the first 200 meters in just 26.63 seconds and finally reached the finish line in 49.26. Runner Lieke Klaver came close on the second spot with her timing of 50.34 seconds.

This isn't the first time Bol has established a record at such a scale. In February's first week, the Dutch runner clocked a timing of 1 minute 05.63 seconds becoming the fastest 500 m woman runner at the Boston Indoor Grand Prix in the United States. Bol broke Russian athlete Olesya Krasnomovets-Forsheva's record of 1:06:31 from 2016.

Bol, who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has also won several European titles in 2022 across the 400m relay and 400 hurdles.

Another feather to Bol's hat is the title of her becoming the third-fastest woman in 400m hurdle history. She stands behind Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, both athletes who finished at number 1 and number 2 spots in Tokyo Olympics.

For Bol to showcase her athletic ability on her home turf, she was extremely proud of. At the end of the race, she mentioned how looking at the huge number of supporters in the crowd made her do better and run faster. Having never experienced so many supporters all at once cheering for her, it was their support that raised her spirits and motivated her, she expressed.

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