Femke Bol clocked a fantastic time of 49.26 sec in the 400m at the Netherlands Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, breaking the world record. It was the oldest world record in athletics. It was set by Czech Jarmila Kratochvílova on March 7, 1982, almost 18 years before Femke Bol was born.
The 22-year-old ran under 50 sec for the first time (49.96 sec) in Metz a week ago – but has now knocked another full 0.7 sec off her best time.
Femke Bol’s achievement was also better than her personal best in the outdoor 400m. She is 49.44 sec off her European win in Munich last year.
“I was hoping to run the record, of course, but in life, you hope for many things, and most times they don’t happen. I wanted this record so badly. I ran this record because of all the fans here. I’ve never seen so many people here. When I crossed the finish line, I knew the record was mine because of the noise from the crowd”, said Femke Bol after her impressive run.
Femke Bol is the Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles with the current European record of 52.03 sec, becoming the third-fastest woman of all time and the first Dutch Olympic medallist at the event. Femke Bol is also the 2022 World Championships silver medallist and 2022 European champion.
