Femke Bol (23) is dominating the 400 meters this indoor season, but she will not compete in that part at the World Outdoor Championships in Budapest next summer and next year at the Olympic Games in Paris. What can we expect from her at the World Cup and the Games? And after that? Six questions and six answers.
How high can we rate Bol’s European 400-meter title last weekend in Istanbul? It is and remains amazing what Bol achieves, but from an international point of view her indoor titles have much less value than her gold medals at the European Outdoor Championships in Munich last summer. And her silver medal from the World Outdoor Championships in Eugene and the Olympic bronze from Tokyo are ranked even higher.
Many athletes skip the indoor season, which is why outdoor is seen as the highest athletics podium. In addition, the fastest women in the 400 meters and 400 meters hurdles mainly come from countries such as the United States, Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas. And indoor athletics has nothing to do with that.
“That makes sense,” says Bram Peters, Bo’s coach. “Why would you organize an indoor championship in a country like the Bahamas? It’s nice and warm there all year round. Outdoor is therefore always bigger.”
What can we expect from Bol for the rest of this year after her impressively good indoor season? In 2022, Bol had an extremely successful outdoor season individually with two European Championship gold (400 meters and 400 meters hurdles) and one World Cup silver (400 meters hurdles), and yet the bar is going up again. Bol’s times this indoor season are even better than last year, with her world record (49.26) in the 400 meters at the NK indoor in Apeldoorn as the highlight. “If you translate that time into an outdoor track, you are around 48.5”, estimates Peters.
For comparison, the Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo became world champion in the 400 meters in Eugene last year with a time of 49.11. That does not mean that Bol can become world champion in the 400 meters and we will not soon find out. Just like in Eugene, she will shoot the 400 meters at this year’s World Cup in Budapest. She runs the 400 meters hurdles individually.
Why does Bol not run 400 meters at a World Cup (and at the Games)? Bol belongs to the world top in both the 400 meters and the 400 meters hurdles. That is possible, because those parts can be combined well in terms of training. It is different at the World Cup and the Games. The 400 meters and the 400 meters hurdles cannot be combined there technically, because Bol would then have to run several times in one day. That will simply be too busy and heavy for her.
At the European Championships in Munich last year, the tournament schedule was different, so that Bol could combine the 400 meters and the 400 meters hurdles there (and took gold in both parts). Peters: “If the combination of 400 meters and 400 meters hurdles is possible, then it is an option for Femke. But at the World Cup and Games she has to choose. And then Femke chooses the 400 meters hurdles.”
Why does Bol prefer the 400 meter hurdles over the 400 meter? The 400 meter hurdles is simply Bol’s favorite part. Peters also sees this in the training sessions. “Femke lives hurdle training differently than training for the 400 meters. She likes hurdles so much. It’s her favorite child.”
What is the chance that Bol will become world champion for the first time next summer? And gold at the Games next year? At the moment, Bol is not the top favorite for gold. For a long time she was the world number three in the 400 meter hurdles, but she has now passed the 33-year-old American veteran Dalilah Muhammad. Reigning Olympic and world champion Sydney McLaughlin is faster than Bol and not by much.
The 23-year-old American ran a world record (50.68) in the World Cup final in Eugene last year, while the personal best of the Dutch since the Tokyo Games is 52.03. “Femke is from another planet, but McLaughlin is one level above that,” says Peters.
The first goal is to narrow the gap to McLaughlin and to achieve that, Bol’s running style is changed. Instead of fifteen, she only put fourteen steps between the hurdles this year. It’s a detail, but such a bigger pass can be a key to saving time.
“It’s a quest,” Bol said two weeks ago. “But I can already say that the switch from fourteen to fifteen steps is going well in training. I even think it suits my natural style better. I’m curious how it will go in competitions.”
Can the multi-talented Bol also reach the top in the 200 or 800 meters in the long term? How good and versatile Bol is is also evident from the fact that as a 400 meter specialist she is also the Dutch record holder in the obsolete 200 meter indoor. And then, since last month, she is also a world record holder in the also obsolete 500 meters indoor.
It stimulates the idea that Bol might also be able to reach the world top in the 200 meters or 800 meters, but the athlete and her coach are not working on that right now. Peters: “We are fully focusing on the World Cup and the Games. Maybe then we will talk about what another nice trick could be.”
Bol does not like the step to the 200 meters anyway. “The 200 meters is mainly about speed and I don’t like that the most. I like running through the acidification more,” she said last month.
Bol is less dismissive of a step to the 800 meters, although that is not the case now. “I have long said that I hate everything above 400 meters, but last month I ran a world record in the 500 meters. That was quite nice. But I mainly see opportunities to get even better in the 400 meters hurdles. lies the challenge.”
Peters: “Femke’s endurance is unique. So if she were to take a step, it would probably be to the 800 meters. But I think she will stay with the 400 meters and the 400 meters hurdles for the rest of her career.”
