Netherlands’ world champion Femke Bol to switch from 400m hurdles to 800m

NEW YORK – Dutchwoman Femke Bol announced on Oct 10 that she is switching from the 400 metres hurdles to the 800m and will start competing in her new event in 2026.

While the one-lap hurdles world champion has often played second fiddle to world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the United States on the Olympic stage, Bol has collected five straight Diamond League titles in her signature event.

“The 400m hurdles provided me with unforgettable moments and shaped me into the athlete I am today... I’m really excited to share the next chapter of my career,” the four-time Olympic medallist wrote on Instagram.

“It’s a big change, it’s uncertain and challenging, but I’m ready to put in the work, surrounded by an amazing team and enjoy this new journey.

“The 800m is new and unfamiliar territory, and that’s precisely what makes it so interesting.”

Britain’s 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson said she was eager to share the starting line with her good friend Bol.

“It’s really brave and courageous,” she told reporters at New York’s Athlos meet on Oct 10, where she ended her injury-dented season on a high note with a win in her signature event.

“To want to take that step and come into an event last couple years that’s been really firing – girls are running insanely fast times – I commend her for wanting to do that and I wish her all the best and I think she’s got the talent to do really well in the eight.”

Bol picked up 400m hurdles bronze at the last two Games and helped power the Netherlands to the top of the podium in the 4x400m mixed relay in Paris. The 25-year-old was part of the 2024 silver medal-winning women’s relay team as well.

Her main 400m hurdles rival, McLaughlin-Levrone, has also recently ventured into new territory, winning the 400m flat at the Tokyo world meet in September.

The world 100m and 200m champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden said she was shocked to read the news but felt the move was good for track.

“I love it because it’s her challenging herself. It’s not like the 800m isn’t already a very, very stacked event,” she told Reuters in New York.

“She’s like, ‘I’m going to move up to the 800m, I’m going to see if I got what it takes to run with these girls’.”

The 800m provided one of the most compelling finals at the World Athletics Championships in Japan, as Kenyan Lilian Odira produced a fantastic finish to take gold and Georgia Hunter-Bell squeezed past compatriot Hodgkinson for silver.

Hodgkinson said she had renewed inspiration to one day tackle track’s longest-standing world record.

Many have eyed the 800m record of 1:53.28 set by Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983 but it has been stubbornly out of reach, with Hodgkinson the sixth-fastest woman at the distance.

“It’s going to take an incredible day, everything to go right. We just got to believe and we believe it’s there and everyone’s getting faster, the technology is helping us get faster,” said the 23-year-old, whose personal best is 1:54.61.

“Just, why not? We’ll give it a go one day.” REUTERS, AFP